The Drug In Me Is Ronnie
by LoneWolfBri
Summary: A Ronnie Radke story that hopefully works out better than the last one. No Craig/Ronnie arguments would be appreciated. Title inspired by "The Drug In Me Is You" by Falling In Reverse. Title may change.
1. The Joys Of Cheating Death

Well, I'm sorry about the last Ronnie Radke story. For me it wasn't working out. So, hopefully I'll have a lot better luck with this one. If this one doesn't work...I guess we'll see what happens. Hope you enjoy this one! - Bri

The plan for the week: get songs recorded, get them sent to a major record company, and hopefully get accpted. It was about 6 in the morning when our band, RedHeartsOfDeath, got to the recording studio. We pretty much just stayed up from the night before and got plenty of sleep the day before. For all three of us to stay up, it required excessive amounts of Pepsi and extreme randomness. Three girls taking over the world, one fan at a time. We'd done some small shows at gigs like bars and clubs, and opened a concert once, nothing major really. We were also putting some cover songs we did when we first started. On the drive over, we decided the name of the album would be The Joys Of Cheating Death. We got to the studio a few mintues later, hyped and wound for sound. The guy at the recording board looked pretty tired, probably up all night with previous bands. He was probably going to switching shifts with someone soon. Just as I thought that, a blonde haired girl walked in. Her hair was green at the tips. "Hey, Tod, you look like you could use some rest. Go home, I'll take over for now," she said. The man nodded and walked out. She sat down and looked at a sheet of paper on a clipboard. Proabably a schedule of all the bands that were supposed to come in. "I'm taking a guess you're RedHeartsOfDeath?" she asked. "Yeah, that's us," I said walking up to her. "Nice to meet you, name's Juliet," she said shaking my hand. "Nice to meet you, name's Bri," I said. The two other members, Kiearra and Oli, introduced themselves as well. Kiearra was one of my best friends and Oli was my older sister, not by much though. "You guys can go ahead and go in if you'd like," Juliet said. I nodded and we walked in. There were mics and amps, kind of like a show, but different. I picked up the guitar, Kiearra picked up the bass, and Oli was stationed over at the drumset. We tested out everything and warmed up a little. We started to record one of my favorite songs called "Cleverness Is Key". We finished about half the record in those 8 hours we had. The other half we'd have to finish tomorrow. Just as I thought the fun was coming to a close, as we left the recording area we saw a tour bus pull up. In the middle of LA, that was kind of common. Small bands going here and there. We didn't leave the building because we wanted to know who was on the bus. "Hey Juliet, who's the band after us?" I asked. "Um, some band called Falling In Reverse," she replied. "You know what that means guys?" I asked anxiously. "Oli, we might wanna move," Kiearra said. "Yeah, when Bri's inner fangirl comes out, it's kinda scary," Oli said. "Oh, I'm not that bad," I said blushing a little. "Sure you aren't. If it's anything like you do for Edge, it's pretty scary. I bet you'll start screaming when Ronnie comes in the door," Oli said. I rolled my eyes. "No, it's all about self-control. Which I have plenty of," I said, sitting on the couch. "Sure you do. Don't worry, if you really start going, we'll hold you back," Kiearra offered. "So, duct tape anyone?" Oli asked. We all laughed. I think we were still a little hyped. "Well, we'll see ya later, Juliet," I said. "See ya, and hope things go well," she said with a laugh. We walked outside just as they walked by us. I was going on one of my shy streaks and didn't say anything, so Kiearra opened her mouth instead. "Hi," she said. "Hey, you guys look familiar, who are you?" Ronnie asked. I was about to die. "RedHeartsOfDeath," Kiearra replied. "Oh, I think we saw you at the bar last Thursday, right?" "Mhm." "Well, it was cool meeting you guys. You coming back tomorrow?" "Yeah, finishing up the record." "I guess we'll see you tomorrow then." "Yep, see ya guys later." They walked inside as we walked back to the car. "See, I told you, self-control," I said as I got in the car. "Yeah, because you didn't say anything," Oli said. "Neither did you," I said. She shrugged and started to drive home.

The next day, we drove back to the studio. We walked in to find that Juliet just woke up and there were five guys sleeping. We crept around, trying not to wake any of them up. "Are we still recording?" I whispered to Juliet. "Oh yeah, of course," she said. I nodded as we walked in the recording area. Whoever these guys were, they were going to get a rude awakening. We started blasting one of our heavier songs and all of the guys shot up and looked around. I almost started to laugh at that point. We finished "Escaping The Guillotine" and walked out. "Morning, guys," I said. "That was one hell of a wake up call, but a good one," Ronnie said rubbing his eyes. I smiled and we walked back in. We finished up the record and were starting on the cover songs. For the covers we did "Reverse The Curse", "Not Good Enough For Truth In Cliche", and "Dragging Dead Bodies In Blue Bags Up Really Longs Hills". We walked out to see all of Falling In Reverse fully awake and sitting around. "So, who do you want this sent to?" Juliet asked. "We agreed a few weeks ago it would be Epitaph, and if that doesn't work we can figure that later," I replied. Juliet nodded and started to transfer tracks so we could listen to them soon. "You know it's kinda shameful when three chicks can do your songs better than yourself," Ronnie admited. "Not really, we got some help with learing them better," I said. "Who helped?" he asked. "Umm," I looked at Kiearra and Oli. "Well, we met up with Escape The Fate last year. We opened for them actually. Then, we all became friends and so Max, Monte, and Rob helped us with some stuff," Oli said. "Oh, well you did pretty well for what you did. You guys should stay around for a little bit," he suggested. The three of us looked at each other and sat on the couch that Ronnie was sleeping on when we came. You could hear the music pretty well through the walls. They were sounding pretty good. They came out a few hours later, it was about 8 at night. "You might wanna let Max know we won't be home till late," I told Kiearra. "Already did," she said. I smiled and nodded. Good thing Ronnie didn't hear that. I think he's still a little touchy on the ETF subject. We payed for the couple of days of recording. All of us went out for dinner and had Chinese. We took the FIR bus since all of us couldn't fit in the car. We all got back on the bus after dinner and sat around for a little bit. "You guys should come on tour with us." Jacky suggested, "Well, as long as you don't have anything else planned for the next year." "I mean we can see but I'm not sure," I said. "Just let us know when you know." I nodded. I noticed Ronnie pacing, usually people do that when they're nervous. "Something on your mind, dude?" I asked. "No, not really. Just letting my mind wonder. Do you mind if we park this in front of your place?" I looked to Kiearra since we were the ones sharing the house. Oli had her own place. "Sure," Kiearra said. I nodded. "Okay cool." "We might wanna drop Oli off back at the studio. Her car's there," I said. Ronnie nodded. We dropped Oli off and started to drive towards our house. They parked the bus in the driveway. "If you guys want you can sleep inside," I said. "Okay, thanks," Ronnie said. I blushed a little, "No problem." We opened the door and walked inside and I was praying that Max was upstairs. Thankfully he was. The guys crashed in the living room. Kiearra and Max would be crashing soon enough. I had a lot going through my head. Just the whole music thing was kind of getting to me. I was probably just overthinking things and I soon calmed down enough to fall asleep.


	2. Dream Tour

Kiearra wrote this part :D When I woke up I was pretty shocked to find that Max wasn't lying next to me. It was pretty odd since he usually stayed in our room until I woke up. I sat up and noticed that Nickelback was playing on the TV. This must of meant he was up for a while, I just hoped he didn't go downstairs yet. "Good morning, babe...well afternoon." Max said as he walked in and sat on the bed. "Hey Max." I said as I kissed him. "Sleep good last night?" "Yeah I was still a little excited about finishing the CD. " "Yeah that's how I was when we finished Dying Is Your Latest Fashion. I was really stoked for everyone to hear it. "Yeah...just wandering did you go downstairs yet?" "No...why?" He said giving me a confused look. I just sat and played with my snake bites. I needed to think of something to say. "You don't want me to go downstairs do you?" "No it's not that...maybe." "Why?" "I don't know." "Tell me dude." I shook my head no."Well fine I'm gonna go find out for myself, dude." "I don't think so." "Oh really who's gonna stop me?" Max asked with a smirk. I smirked, got on top of him and pinned him to the bed. "That would be me." "Fuck dude this could be better than going downstairs." Max said as he kissed me. "Just kidding this can wait till. later." He said as he pushed me off of him and ran downstairs. I got off the bed and ran after him. "Why the fuck is Ronnie sitting on the couch!" Max said when we got downstairs. "Oh hey Max. I've been clean for 3 years. What have you been up too?" "Smoking crack what else?" Max said sarcastically. I sighed and pulled my hair back. From my understanding I thought they were friends. Hell maybe they still are friends and they are just being sarcastic. "I missed you, bro." "I missed you too, dude." Max said as Ronnie got up and hugged him. "So uhhh...why are you like here?" Max asked. "Bri invited him." I added as she blushed slightly.

Max looked over at me, then back at Ronnie. "So, this is your new crew, huh?" Max asked looking at the rest of the guys. "I guess you could say that." Ronnie replied. "Seems like a good bunch." Ronnie nodded. "They really are. We heard some of their album recording yesterday." I said. "But not better than Escape The Fate, right?" Max asked sarcastically. "Well, about that..." "What do you mean?" Max started to glare at me. "This might not be the best to say, but I like both Ronnie's ETF and Craig's ETF equally. I know so many people are going to judge me some way for that. But, what can I say? I'm one of a kind. Well, actually I think Kiearra's the same way, right?" I asked. "Pretty much," she replied. "Okay, let me change that last statement. We're rare." I corrected smiling. "Yeah, but who really cares what the haters think?" Ronnie asked. "He's got a point. You gotta be your own person. It's better than being identical to everyone." Max agreed. I nodded. I sat on the couch Ronnie was sleeping on the night before. He came over and sat next to me. I looked out the window that was behind the couch and saw the tour bus in the driveway. "Do you know of any dates yet?" I asked. "Well, we're hoping soon, but if we can't get that probably early next year," Ronnie said. "Are you trying to think about tour?" he asked. "Yeah," I replied. "Don't worry, you've got lots of time." "We'll have to talk to Oli, too." He nodded. "And I guess if Escape The Fate wants to join, they can. As long that's okay with you guys," Ronnie said. The guys on the floor talked amongst themselves and agreed that ETF would be a good choice. We all looked at Max. "I'll talk to Craig," Max said. I started to smile. All my dreams coming true in two days. One day, we recorded an album I never thought would be done and met Falling In Reverse. The next there's talk about FIR, ETF, and RHOD all going on tour. I was so excited I don't think I could contain myself. On the outside, I looked calm. That was usual for me. Max soon went upstairs to call Craig. I excused myself for a moment to call Oli. The phone rang a few times before she answered. "Hey, Bri, what's up?" she asked. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about something. How do you feel about going on tour?" I asked. "With who?" "Falling In Reverse and possibly Escape The Fate." "About when?" "Either sometime soon or the beginning of next year. Well, that's what Ronnie said, I'm not sure. It depends on when we can get dates." "Okay, when you find out if ETF is coming, call me back. Then, we can meet up and discuss it." "Okay sure, I'll talk to you later, bye," I said as I hung up. I walked back and sat on the stairs. "So, what did she say?" Kiearra asked. "Well, she said she wants to know if ETF is coming. If they are, she wants to meet up with us and talk about it," I replied. "Oh okay, Max should be getting off anytime now." About ten minutes later, Max came back. I moved so he could get through. He ended up sitting next to me on the stairs, Kiearra standing next to us, leaning against the wall. "Do we have a deal?" Ronnie asked. "Well, Craig wanted to meet up with all of us. As in like, every single member of each band," Max replied. "Well, we've got everyone now, except Oli. When does he want to meet up?" "I told him he could meet us up here, if you don't mind. He said he'd be by sometime this afternoon or tonight. I think he's bringing Monte and Robert, too." I nodded. I was kind of scared to see how this would turn out. I sent a text to Oli to come over. She soon replied saying she would be on her way. "Just wondering, how is everyone going to fit?" I asked. "Somehow, probably most of us will have to stand," Max said. I nodded. About an hour later, Oli arrived. Craig, Monte, and Robert came about two hours after Oli. I sat between Craig and Ronnie on the couch, some of the others stood, some sat on the floor. I was looking around at everyone. Both Ronnie and Craig put a reassuring hand on my shoulders, Ronnie to the left and Craig to the right. "So, what do you guys think about a tour this year?" I asked. "I think it would be great. Hopefully a breakthrough for all of us. I mean we have fans, but this way with all of us, it could expand even more," Craig said. "Good point. I mean if you guys approved, Ronnie could do some of the songs from Dying Is Your Latest Fashion," I said shyly. Ronnie shrugged. "Well, we can figure that once we get on the road," Craig said. I nodded. The small meeting went on discussing things like: dates, places, arrangements, transportation, exc. There would probably be 2 or 3 tour busses depending on if RHOD wanted to travel by ourselves, but I didn't see that happening. I know for sure Kiearra would be on the ETF bus with Max, Oli I wasn't sure of, I would probably get on the FIR bus. Suprisingly, there wasn't a single argument that night. I knew once we got on the road, it would probably get worse. We made plans for tomorrow that we would call around and try to get some tour dates. We were talking about Nevada being our first few stops. Since we were in California, it wouldn't be too bad getting there. Later on, we all seperated throughout the house. It was pretty late, so the three guys decided not to drive home. I think Oli went down to the basement with them. I went to my room and just listen to some music. It's what I usually did on a dull night in my room. I pulled the book "Linger" from my shelf across from my bed. The book that followed this one was coming out in about a month so I wanted to read it again. About 20 minutes later, someone was knocking on my bedroom door. I put the book down on my nightstand. "Come in," I said. Ryan opened the door and walked in. "Hey," he said. "Hey, what's up?" I asked. "Not much, getting kinda boring downstairs so I thought I'd come up. Looks like you could use some company," he said sitting next to me on my bed. "Thanks, I guess some company wouldn't be too bad." "Shy, huh?" I nodded. "I don't usually ask for company. I let people decide if they want to see me. If they don't screw them." "Well said. I will say I feel the same sometimes." "Oh really? But, you're always around at least someone." "Yeah, but sometimes one member gets more attention than the others. You probably know that." I nodded. "So, you're saying Ronnie gets most of the attention?" I asked. "Sometimes, it really depends on the person you're talking to." "Oh okay." He looked around my room. "Blasting Apocalyptica, cool," he said. I blushed a little. "Yeah, I really like them." "Cool, because so do I," he said smiling. Well, if I did ride with the FIR bus, at least I know I would have one friend. We hung around for another hour or so, it was getting close to 3 a.m.. "Well, I better be getting to bed," Ryan said. "Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow," I said with a smile. "Yep, goodnight, Bri," he said hugging me. "Night, Ryan," I said as he left. He closed the door behind him. I changed CDs to Dying Is Your Latest Fashion. It somehow calmed me at night. I was laying down on my bed, closing my eyes. Right before I started to fall asleep, there was another knock at my door. "Come in," I said. This time, it was Ronnie. I shot right up. "Suprised much?" he asked. "Kind of, I mean that was good timing," I said laughing and blushing. "Yeah, you could say that," he said smiling. That smile just made me want to die. It's amazing how many ways a guy could be perfect, and Ronnie had most of them. He looked over at me, my face was bright red. The fact that "Situations" started didn't make it much better. "You know, after two albums, you really can notice a bit of a difference. Like, in my voice and the way I sing," Ronnie said. "Yeah, I first really got into the whole singing idea from this album," I said. "Really?" I nodded. "Yeah, and I've been listening to ETF ever since." "Well, I'm glad I got you started. Now I see why you did all Dying Is Your Latest Fashion songs for the covers." I nodded. "We all picked one song from it." "And your's was...?" " "Reverse The Curse", it was the first song I listened to," I explained. "Cool. Hey, would you mind if I slept up here? I find it crowded downstairs." he explained. I looked around, not sure how to answer. I started to play with my snake bites, the left piercing to be exact. I mean, come on. This was the guy I had the biggest crush on. Well, maybe there were a few exceptions, but Ronnie was pretty high on the list. "Umm...sure go ahead," I said. "Okay, thanks," he said with a smile. He moved to my left and sat next to me. I was sitting with my legs crossed on the right. This felt so unreal. "Well, I'm getting kind of tired," I said getting up. Ronnie yawned. "I guess I'm getting a little that way myself," he said. I smiled. I turned the music and lights off and got in bed. "Night, Bri," he said. "Night, Ronnie," I said, turning on my side towards the door on my right. 


	3. Sink Or Swim

The next day, I woke up and tried to rub my eyes. The thing was, I couldn't. My arms were being held to my sides by something. I was still in a slight haze so I wasn't sure what. Then, I heard my door open. I started to pretend to sleep. There was a little bit of laughter, but it was quiet. The door was soon shut, and I was more aware of my surroundings. I opened my eyes again and tried to turn my head behind me. Crossing over my torso was an arm covered in tattoos. I gently turned around, trying not to wake him up. I put a gentle hand on his shoulder and started at his face a little while. I let out a quiet sigh because I knew this was probably the closest I would ever get to Ronnie. I got a little closer to him and tried to fall asleep again. That didn't work out as I wanted to. Good thing I only had to wait about ten minutes. I still pretended to sleep as Ronnie woke up. I heard him yawn and felt the bed move slightly as he sat up. He shook my arm. "Hey, Bri, you might want to get up now. It's like, 12:30," he said. "Whatever you say, Mr. Cuddles," I said sitting up. "What the hell are you talking about?" "Oh, so I just imagined that I woke up to your arm around me earlier." "Oh, I was just, umm...I do weird things in my sleep," he explained blushing slightly. "Sure you do. Don't deny it, Ronnie." "Deny what?" "Nothing." "Tell me." "No, why should I?" "Or else I'll...I don't know...tickle you to death," he said smirking at me. "Try me," I said with a smirk. He started to come closer to me, and I shot up and was on the side of the bed. "Hard to get, are we?" he asked. "Maybe, or just clever," I replied. He quickly got up and was on the other side of the bed, facing me. There was a moment of silence. Then, in seconds time, I got on and ran across the bed. I was then on the floor next to Ronnie, and I jumped on his back. This caused him to fall on my bed, and I was on top of him. "Well, this is kind of awkward," I said blushing quite a bit. "Umm, yeah kind of. Could you please get off my back now?" he asked. "Oh yeah, sorry," I said getting off and sitting next to him. "It's cool," he said sitting up. I smiled and blushed as he messed with my hair a little. I straightened it back out to the way I liked it: bangs over my right eye and parted the way I wanted it. "So, shall we go downstairs?" I asked. "Sure," Ronnie replied. We both got off my bed and walked downstairs. I was guessing the ETF guys were getting ready to go back home. Everyone was in the living room, talking amongst themselves. I walked over to Craig, who was leaning against the wall. "You guys leaving already?" I asked, kind of disappointed. "Yeah, but don't worry, we'll be back soon," he replied. I nodded with a smile. The guys went around saying their goodbyes and left. I think Oli was probably bummed out the most. She was probably getting along really well with them. I felt sorry for her. I sat on the stairs and looked about the living room. I just kind of watched over, and soon everyone went to the kitchen to eat. I wasn't hungry, so I just went back upstairs. I got my laptop from off my dresser and turned it on. I pulled up iTunes and Twitter and listened to some Black Veil Brides. I tried to catch up on replies from fans. There was one that wasn't from a fan that caught my eye. "REDRUMRONNIE: It's great to see some people I haven't seen in a while, and some new ones. Thanks EscapeTheFate and RHODofficial :)" All three of us from RedHeartsOfDeath got band and personal mentions. I smiled and tweeted a picture that I took from the night before with Craig, Ronnie, and me. "RHODBri: Band news coming in the near future ;) more coming soon!" I smiled as I saw the comments started to come along. Soon, my door was knocked upon. I got up from my bed and opened it. "Hey, Oli," I said. "Hey, Bri. I wanted to let you know I'm heading out soon." "Aww, really?" She nodded. "Okay, we'll try and let you know at least a week before tour starts," I said. "Okay, I guess I'll see you guys then," she said giving me a hug. "Yep, see you later," I said letting go. I closed the lid on my laptop and went downstairs just as Oli left. I decided to be a ninja and jump over the back of the couch and lay down. "Epic entrance much?" Jacky asked. "Yeah, dude," I replied looking over at him and brushing the hair out of my face. He smiled at me and went on looking at his phone. I then just started to stare at the ceiling and cleared my head. Random tour thoughts coming about. "Daydreaming again, are we?" I heard Ronnie ask. "Oh, umm...yeah I guess," I replied looking over the back of the couch. That was where he was standing, looking down at me. I moved my feet as he came over and sat by me. "Pretty stoked, huh?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, I kind of have mixed feelings about tour. I'm excited and really nervous," I explained. "At least you don't have to wait long. We're hoping to start in about a week," he said with a smile. I smiled back.

*One week later*  
>It was about 6 A.M. on the morning we were leaving. I sat up from my bed with a yawn and rubbed my eyes. If I had to wake up early, I usually would but I'd be really tired. That's how it was now. I just wanted to lay back down and fall back asleep. Oh well, I knew stuff had to get done today. There was plenty of time to sleep on the bus. I slowly got up from my bed and turned the lights on. I winced a little at the sudden brightness. I soon got over that and walked over to my closet. Then, I pulled out a pair of shorts and a My Chemical Romance shirt out and got dressed. My hair was going to have to go curly for now. I already packed my straightner the night before. I had two bags of luggage and then my black and purple electric guitar I used for shows. I packed the stuff I was just using away and started to carry my stuff downstairs. "Guys, you're a little early being up, aren't you?" I asked. "No, actually right on time. We just need your stuff in the bus, and we'll be ready to go," Ronnie replied. I nodded and yawned. He took a hold of the two bags of luggage and I took my guitar out. "You're riding with us, right?" he asked as we walked out. The FIR bus was in the driveway and the ETF bus was parked along side of the street. "Yeah," I replied as my bags were put in a storage space near the bottom of the bus. Ronnie opened another door and that's where my guitar went. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?" he asked. "Well, technically you just did, but knock yourself out," I replied. My attention was slightly directed towards the horizon were the sun was just barely coming up. I noticed him hesitate some. "Nevermind, it's nothing," he said. Whatever he was trying to ask me, it must've been hard for him to choke up and spit out. The FIR guys, Oli, Kiearra, and Max came outside. I was taking a guess that the ETF guys were already on their bus, asleep. I said goodbye to Kiearra, Max, and Oli and got in the bus. "So, which bunks are already taken?" I asked. "Every one except that one," Jacky said, pointing to a bunk in the middle on the left. There were only six bunks on the bus, three on each side. I walked over and sat on the bed. It was pretty nice for a tour bus. "Okay, head count," Ronnie said, looking around the bus. He paused for a short moment. "Where did Ryan go?" he said. I shrugged. Moments later, Ryan came on the bus with a pillow of mine and a small bear. "Thanks, Ry, I almost forgot those," I said walking over and taking my stuff from him. "No problem," he said. I put my stuff on my bunk and hugged Ryan. "We ready to go now?" Ronnie asked. I nodded. We waited for the ETF bus to pull out, then we were on the road. I soon got more comfortable and looked around at everyone. Mika had the bunk in front of mine, closest towards the front on the left side. Derek had the one behind mine, across from Derek was Ryan, across from me was Ronnie, and across from Mika was Jacky. The bunks almost felt like seperate rooms. There were seperators between bunks, which I thought was nice. I let out a yawn and started to lay down. I pulled my Edge pillow closer so I was actually sleeping on it and put my bear next to it. I let out a sigh. *There's no turning back now,* I thought to myself. In each bunk there was a nice desk-like fan. I turned mine on and curled up in the blanket. The bus was actually better than sleeping in my own bed, so it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.<p>

Everyone was asleep on the bus, except Ronnie and Ryan. "Dude, just tell her you like her. You know you've been thinking about her ever since we met at the record studio," Ryan said. "It's not that easy, Ryan. Also, it would be kinda ovbious that I would be dating her since she's the only chick on the bus," Ronnie said. "Whatever, dude. You snooze, you lose, that simple." "What are you trying to say?" "I'm not saying anything, except you better get her before someone else does." "I guess so." "Ronnie, you know so. I bet she feels the exact same way. She's a shy girl. She wants you to go to her, she won't come to you." Ronnie let out a deep sigh. "Fine, I'll do it, but not now." "Well of course not, she's asleep." Ronnie nodded and looked over at Bri, wanting her in his arms. "Well, I'm going to see if I can get some shut eye, you probably should, too," Ryan said. "Yeah I will," Ronnie said, laying down and trying to sleep.


	4. Good Girls Bad Guys

A few hours later, I awoke and looked at my phone, 3:36. I looked around and saw that it was only Derek and me who were awake. I smiled at him and looked out the window. The Escape The Fate bus in front of us, the highway passing before my eyes. I decided to get my iPod out, and listen to that until we got to the venue our first show was going to be at. Derek soon came over and kept me company till one by one, everyone woke up. When everyone was up, Derek went back to his bunk. I let out a yawn. "How could you still be tired?" Ronnie asked. "It's the song. I swear, sometimes I just need someone to stand in my room and sing me to sleep," I replied, trying to be funny. "Kind of ironic that you're talking to a singer." "Yeah, okay fine, tonight it's your job to sing me to sleep," I said trying not to laugh. "I'll be sure to get on that," he said almost laughing himself. I could hear the sarcasm in his voice. Though, in a way, I wish he really would. Oh well, that probably wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

A few hours later, we started to get ready for the show. We took turns in the small bathroom. For the show I was wearing: skinny jeans, a black tank-top under a red and black plaid shirt, black converse, a choker with a wolf paw as a charm, bracelets that covered up most of both wrists, and a clip to keep my bangs out of my eyes. I walked out a few minutes later and sat down on my bunk. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ronnie and Ryan looking at me. I shrugged and got my phone out. "RHODBri: The first night of the Massacre tour...it'll be great seeing you guys :D" I saw Ryan glare over at Ronnie. They were both already ready. "What?" Ronnie growled, glaring back at Ryan. Ryan just shrugged and looked out the window. We were finally at the venue. Ronnie got off the bus quickly without a word. "What's wrong with him?" I asked looking over at Ryan. "I'm not gonna say. I think you better go talk to him," he replied. I nodded and walked off the bus. Ronnie was leaning against the bus, staring at the sky blankly. "Something bothering you?" I asked. I think I kind of startled him. "Oh, umm...not really, why?" "You just looked a little irritated when you got off the bus." "Oh, that was nothing." "You sure?" He let out a sigh, "No, not really." I got a little closer and wrapped my arm around his waist. "Tell Bri Bri what's wrong," I said. He smiled, trying not to laugh. He looked down at me by his left side. "Well, you may not know this, but I've got a little crush on yours truly," he said, messing with my hair a little. "Really?" I asked, blushing quite deeply. "Really," he said smiling at me. Today was now the best fucking day of my life. The start of our first real tour, the guy I liked very much just admitted to liking me, it was just fantastic. I put my hair back the way it was and looked at him happily. "So, that's why you were acting the way you were, because of me?" "Well, in a way yes, but don't go saying it's your fault. It's mine. Ryan and I were talking earlier this morning and he pretty much said either have you or not. I thought you'd be happy with me." "Don't worry, I am," I said, smiling and hugging him. "Well, look at the two lovebirds," I heard the voice from above. "Were you watching the whole time?" I asked kind of angered. "No, I was listening, Bri Bri," Ryan mocked from the bus window. I rolled my eyes. Then, I wondered how he heard. We were talking kind of quietly, and he was about 15 feet away from us. Just then, the ETF bus started to empty. "Hey, guys," I said, walking over to them. We, as in RHOD, usually kept the outfits somewhat alike. Tonight, we all wore red and black. Ronnie followed, but he kept his distance. "Hey, Bri," Kiearra and Oli said in unison. "Why is your face so red?" Oli asked. "Oh, umm...I'll tell you guys later," I replied. My face soon got its original color back. All three bands walked backstage and hung out in some rooms for a little bit. Max was in our room, but I did notice while we were walking to our band's room, Ronnie kept looking over at me. I looked over at him and smiled. He grabbed my hand and let go as we got to our room. "See ya later," I said to him. He waved with a smile and walked down the hallway with the rest of Falling In Reverse. We walked inside the room where there were multiple kinds of drinks and such, there was also a nice couch and leather chair. I got a water and sat in the chair. Everyone else grabbed some drinks and sat on the couch. "So, how was the ride over?" Kiearra asked. "Awesome," I replied. "How so?" Oli asked. "It just was," I said blushing a little at the thought of Ronnie said he liked me. "There's something you aren't telling us," Oli said. "Okay, who's the guy?" Kiearra asked. They ovbiously knew it was about me and some guy. "I'm going to let you guys figure that out. C'mon, knowing me, it's not that hard," I replied. Kiearra and Oli looked at each other, Max was looking at me kind of weird. "You're kidding, right?" Oli asked. I shook my head. "Does this mean we can call you Briana Radke?" Kiearra asked sarcastically. I laughed. "No, wait till or if he proposes to me, then you can," I said blushing. "Nice one, dude," Max said. I smiled and nodded. A few minutes passed. I looked at my phone, 7:43. "Hey, we might wanna get sound check before the show," I said. We all got up and left for the stage. Max went into the Escape The Fate room for the time being. He gave Kiearra a kiss before he left. I could hear the crowd from the stage while we were doing some sound checking. Everything seemed to work out okay. We put some extra picks on the mic stands and some drum sticks to the side of the drum set. We went backstage for the remaining five mintues we had, and Kiearra and I picked up our instruments. We took a couple minutes to warm up. I took a look at my phone one last time, 7:59. "We'd better go out there," I said. We ran on the stage as a curtain to the sides. The crowd turned out to love us. We took bows and threw our picks/drumsticks. We went back backstage. "You might wanna tell Falling that they're up next," Oli said. I nodded and went to what I believed was their room. "I've got this," I said with a smirk. I cleared my throat and pounded on the door as hard as I could. I used my screamer voice, that I rarely used. "Ronnie, get the fuck out here! I've got something to tell you!" I stopped pounding and screaming. He opened the door. I could see the rest of the band looking at me like they were scared of me or something. "Yes?" "Just wanted to let you know you go on in about ten minutes," I said smiling innocently. "I believe you just woke up the dead." "Probably, but look at all the fucks I give," I said with a smirk. "Yeah, we better not drive by a cemetery on the way to the next show. I don't want zombies invading around our bus." "If there are, I promise I'll sleep outside with them." "I bet you will," he said, messing with my hair again. I got out of the way so the guys could come out. They all smiled at me on the way out. I looked down the hallway, back towards our room. I could imagine that the ETF guys were kind of scared by me. I walked down with Kiearra and Oli back to our room. I was almost falling asleep in the chair. I think I did for about an hour, until there was pounding on the door. I awoke quickly. "He wants revenge," I said laughing. "Bri, get the fucking door!" Ronnie screamed. "Yep, revenge." I walked to the door and opened it, "Yes?" "I was wondering if you wanted to go back to the bus with me," he suggested. "Okay sure, I'm getting tired anyway." I turned back, facing my bandmates. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." "Okay, see ya Bri," Kiearra said. I waved back at Oli and went out with Ronnie. We got back on the bus. I was laying down, my head on Ronnie's shoulder. He started to play with my hair a little. That's how I fell asleep, in his arms this time.

The ETF set ended about an hour after Bri left. Kiearra and I left out with the guys. I was kind of suprised there weren't fans flocking everywhere. We all got on the bus and went to our bunks. Mine was in the back on the right, across from Max. In front of mine was Monte, who was across from Kiearra. In front of Kiearra was Craig who was across from Robert. It started to rain some, which I liked. The patter of it would probably sooth us all to a soft sleep. I knew I was a little tired. Everyone else was probably wide awake. I got my iPod out and listened to that for a little bit. "Nights Of Love" by Papa Roach came on, so I blasted that. I started to twirl my earbud around my finger, a habit I got from Bri. "Rockin' out much?" Craig asked as he walked by. I took the other earbud out, "Yeah, kind of." "Cool," he said smiling at me. I blushed a little. He sat down on my bunk, "What are you listening to?" "Just some Papa Roach," I replied. "Cool. Do you mind if I look at it real quick?" "Sure," I said handing him my iPod. He looked at it for a few moments and changed the song. "I hope you don't mind," he said. The song was "Scars" by Papa Roach. I smiled at him. "Nope, not at all," I said. Craig let out a quiet sigh. "Well, I think I'm going to crash for the night. Goodnight, Oli," he said hugging me. "Night, Craig," I said. I felt the bus start to take off on the road again and fell asleep.


	5. Raised By Wolves

The next night's show went smoothly. After the show, there were some fans we got some autographs and pictures for. There was someone I noticed walking towards us with Craig. He was pretty skinny with a grey and black t-shirt and jeans on. One of his eyes seemed to be different than the other, which was cool in my opinion. It was kind of hard to recognize him without the black hand painted over his face. I knew he and Ronnie had some history together that wasn't the best. "Hey, Ronnie," I said looking towards Nick. He turned his attention behind us and saw Nick. "Dude, it's okay. There's no bad blood," he said. "If you're sure," I said. "Positive," he reassured, holding me closer to his side. I was putting on a fake smile. Nervousness filled the air around me. My blood started to rush a little, not because I was just about to meet Nick Mathews, but for what was going to happen because of it. Maybe Ronnie was one of those guys who were really overprotective. I didn't know since I've only known him for a couple weeks. He seemed to be pretty chill for the time being though, so that calmed me down some. Nick only really recognized the rest of ETF, Kiearra, and Ronnie. Nick went around saying hi to everyone. He stopped when he got to Ronnie. There was a moment of silence. I let go because they hugged. I was kind of suprised myself, and I think everyone else was, too. "Good seeing you again," Nick said. "You too, dude," Ronnie said letting go. He wrapped his arm back around me and held me back to his side. "So, this your girl?" Nick asked. "Word's been getting around, I guess," he replied smiling. I was blushing a little. "Taking a guess you're Bri, right?" "Yep," I replied. "Cool." I nodded. "Do you know where Oli went?" Craig asked. "I think she might be somewhere with Monte, but I'm not sure," I replied. Craig nodded. "I'm also taking a guess she's in RedHeartsOfDeath as well?" Nick asked. I nodded," She does the drumming, I do the singing and guitar stuff, and Kiearra is the bassist." "Okay, I get it now." I smiled and looked around to possibly see if Oli was anywhere around. I didn't see Ryan, which kind of worried me. Craig and Nick already went to find Oli. "Do you know where Ryan is?" I asked. "I think he's just out on a walk...," Ronnie replied. I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn't telling me the whole truth. I just shrugged about it. Craig and Nick came back a few minutes later with Oli. We just hung around for the rest of the night and got a couple drinks on the ETF bus. I never got drunk, though. Did it once, never again. After a drink, I gave Nick a hug goodbye. "Hope to see ya around," I said. "Same here," he said letting go. I smiled and turned my attention towards the others. "And I'll see you guys tomorrow," I said. "Night, Bri," they called after me. I waved and got off the bus. Just then, I saw a shape moving out of the nearby forest area and towards the bus. It looked like a person, though I wasn't sure. Once I got closer, I realized it was Ryan. His shirt was torn slightly, and he had some dirt on his face. "Hey, Ry," I said. "Oh, hi Bri. Going to bed?" he asked. I nodded, "How about you?" "Getting kinda tired, not sure about sleep, though." "If you're interested there's some drinks going around on the Escape bus." "I'm a little tired for that, but thanks," he said. We then both walked on the bus. I got in the bathroom and changed into a tank-top and shorts. I got back to my bunk and started falling asleep.

The next day was our day off. We didn't do that much, just kinda hung around. I decided to go out to the forest and write a few song lyrics. I liked writing in a place that felt like home to me. Since both Oli and I grew up in Oregon, the forest was a very home-like area. I sat on an old tree stump. It was big enough for at least two people to sit on. I had an old notebook, it had lyrics from some of our first songs. I tapped the open page with a pencil, waiting for ideas to come to me. It didn't take that long. There was the sound of birds in the distance. I could also hear...wolves? No, it couldn't be. In the middle of the day in Nevada? I must've been hearing things. That thought soon left my head, and I went back to writing some ideas down. Soon, I started hearing footsteps. "Ronnie?" I called out, looking around. "Okay, stop playing, I know it's you." No response was heard. I looked down at the base of the stump. There, lie a big, grey wolf. I looked in awe for a moment, and thought I needed to get it away. I just wasn't sure how. I tried to scare it in a way, no result. Pushing it, same. It just kept laying there. It was alive, that I knew. I guess it wasn't doing any harm. I let it lay there. This was the only time I could say I pet a wolf. The wolf then got up and looked at me as if it knew me. I let it smell my hand. It turned it's nose away and started walking. I shrugged and let it go. It was probably the biggest wolf I've ever seen. It was at least a foot taller than me. A few hours later, it started to get darker. I decided it was about time to go. I heard the footsteps again, and tried to find the source of them. That, I ended unlucky with. I let out a sigh. Then, it felt like a train rammed into me. I was pinned to the ground by something extremely heavy. I heard the bones in my wrists and ankels start to crack. I let out a loud scream, thinking someone would hear me. I felt something like a dog drooling on my face. The snarls and growls of a massive wolf pinned on top of me. I was screaming so loud, someone had to hear me, and hurry to find me. The pressure was lifted as the wolf moved to my side, it's massive paw on my chest. There was one last growl and a bite to my neck, which caused me to pass out.

"Ronnie, please forgive me. I didn't know what I was doing!" Ryan defended as he got on the bus. "You didn't do what?" Ronnie asked. Ryan gave him a desperate look. "Oh no, Ry," Ronnie said looking back the same way. "I didn't know it was her, I swear!" Ronnie got up quickly, "Who was it?" Ryan was almost crying, "Bri." "Take me to her, there still might be hope," Ronnie said. They rushed out of the bus and into the wooded area. Bri was laying in a soft bed of grass, blood still flowing out of her neck at a slow pace from two separate places. "I did this, I'm going to take care of it," Ryan said. He picked Bri up and carried her to Nick's car with his permission. Nick stayed overnight with the ETF guys. Ryan and Ronnie rushed to the nearest hospital and carried her inside. The blood from her neck was now being covered by a washcloth. "What does she have?" a receptionist asked. "Werewolf bites on the neck," Ryan replied softly. "Name?" "Briana, that's with one N, St. Clair." "Okay, just a moment," she said. A doctor soon came with a gurney and rolled Bri away. "I really fucked up this time," Ryan said hanging his head. "Dude, she's gonna be okay. She's strong enough," Ronnie reassured him. Both bands, and Nick, soon rushed in. "Where is she?" Oli asked. "She just got taken back a few mintues ago, doubt you can go right now," Ronnie said hugging her. "What happened?" she asked. "Wolf bit her on the neck, twice. I think she's also got broken wrists and ankles and some cuts," Ryan replied. "She'll live though, right?" "Yeah, no need to worry about that." A small smile came to everyone's face. They had to wait for hours before they could see her because she went right into surgery to fix the wrists and ankles. They all slept overnight in the waiting room. The next morning, probably about 10 or so, they got the okay to go and see her. When they finally found her room on the 5th floor, she was asleep. Her neck, ankles, and wrists were wrapped up pretty tight. Suprisingly, everyone fit in there, just some people sat on the floor. She finally awoke about noon, as usual. "Finally, she's awake!" Ronnie exclaimed hugging her. "Ow," I said. "Oh sorry," he said stepping away. She looked around, "Where am I?" "You don't remember anything? You were writing in the forest when you got attacked by a wolf," Ryan explained. She looked at her hand where there was an IV and winced. Bri hated hospitals, they creeped her out. "Oh, okay," she said. "They said you could leave tomorrow," Ronnie said. As long as she didn't have to stay in that bed long, she didn't really care. She noticed she had boots on her feet. "What's the point of those?" she asked, pointing at them. "Both of your ankles and wrists broke," Ronnie replied. There was a slight pause. "I think I remember that." she said, "The wolf was about a foot taller than me and grey." Everyone looked at her oddly, except Ryan and Ronnie. They were looking out the window blankly. A few moments later, Ryan took Ronnie out of the room. "You did notice there were two separate bites on her, didn't you?" Ryan asked trying not to be heard by curious ears. "Yeah, but I didn't really see it," Ronnie replied. "It was smaller, almost like a human's mouth." "If it was that how could she be still living?" "I don't know, maybe the bites evened themselves out. I'm scared for her." "We all are. Now, when it comes to something like this, you're probably going to be having to look over her a lot more than me," Ronnie explained. Ryan let out a sigh, "I know. The thing about this that hurts me the most, is that I knew it was her. It was like, I couldn't control myself." "But you got her here and she's alive, which is the important thing." "Yeah, I guess." Ronnie put a reassuring hand on Ryan's shoulder, and they walked back into the room. Soon, everyone got some food and brought some back. The moon soon took its full and everyone, except Ronnie, left out to the busses. "I'm glad I get to finally leave tomorrow," Bri said. "Yeah, so am I," he said looking over at her. "Have I ever told you how much I hate needles?" she asked, looking down at her hand. "No, but from the way you said that, I'm taking a guess and saying greatly." She nodded. "Oh well, in a few hours you'll be okay," he said, messing with her hair. "Yeah," she said smiling and letting out a yawn. "I guess I'll let you sleep," he said getting up. "Please stay." He looked back at her and smiled. "Okay, I guess this can work," he said pulling a few chairs together. "I hope you sleep well," she said. "I think I will," he said. Ronnie turned off the lights and kissed Bri on the cheek. "Night," he said. "Night," she said, soon falling asleep. 


	6. I'm Not A Vampire Or Am I?

Making a note...sorry if the story's kind of confusing to some. It'll make more sense as time goes. Loving the reviews :D Thanks everyone :)

The next morning, I awoke about 8 or so. Probably the earliest I would ever wake up this whole tour. I was happy about this because I was finally being released and back on tour. The nurse came in and unhooked my IV and wrapped up where the needle was. I got dressed in some normal clothes Ronnie brought back from the bus: loose fitting jeans and my Falling In Reverse shirt with a skeleton hand and a blue rose. It was kind of hard trying to get the jeans over the boots, and the shirt wasn't much better. I eventually got that done and attempted to sign the release papers. Since my wrists were broken, it didn't do much good. I was suprised they didn't give me a wheelchair, but crutches instead. This made some sense because I could use them even with broken wrists. "Have you had these before?" a nurse asked. "Yeah, I've broken my leg once and used them," I replied. A little after that, we left and got on the bus. I sat down on my bunk and placed the crutches under the bed. "So, how are you gonna perform?" Mika asked. "Well, I thought I could go out as long as I sat on a chair or something," I replied. "Not a bad idea." I nodded and found my laptop next to the desk fan. I got twitter up and going. "RHODOli: Please keep my sister, RHODBri, in your thoughts tonight..she's the hospital now and has a long road ahead." That was from the previous night. All the members from the other bands tweeted similar. Now my mentions we're flooded of tweets such as "Hope you're doing okay" and "What happened?" stuff like that. "RHODBri: I'm fine everyone, just some broken bones and a little blood lost. I'm still performing, all for you guys :) Thanks for the support :D" After that, I closed the laptop lid and looked at Ronnie, who was sitting by me. I was on the left, being held. "You should take a pic, so I can let the fans know I'm okay," I suggested. Ronnie nodded and got up. He took his phone out and got the picture of me waving at the camera. "REDRUMRONNIE: Poor RHODBri, got pretty fucked up yesterday. Hope you get better soon my "Good Girl" ;)" He sat back down next to me, and I retweeted the picture. The morning and afternoon passed quickly. We got ready for that night's show. I got a hold of Kiearra and Oli and told them to wear their FIR shirts since I didn't really want to change. "So, you're performing then?" Oli asked. "Yeah, I'm going to bring a chair out and sit while playing. I don't like letting people down, even if I don't know them personally," I replied. "How are you going to play when your wrists are broken?" "Umm...do you think maybe Max could come and play his guitar?" That's when I found out the phone was on speaker. "Yeah, dude," I heard Max say. "Sweet, we've got this," I said. Since Max knew our songs as well as his own, this would work. It was almost time to start going and getting stuff set up. I put my phone in my pocket. "Need help out?" Ronnie asked. "That would be nice, thanks," I replied. "No problem," he said getting up from my bunk. He gently picked me up and walked me to the stairs that lead outside. He placed me on the bottom step and walked back to get my crutches. He handed them to me and I got up. "Doesn't that hurt your wrists?" he asked. "A little, but they're wrapped pretty well so it's not too bad," I replied. The rest of the guys came out after us. Ronnie stayed back a little as I joined up with Kiearra and Oli. "You're going to talk to her, right?" I heard Ronnie ask. "Yeah, after the show, though. She doesn't need the stress before," I heard Ryan reply. Wait, I was like 10 feet ahead of them, and it seemed like they were whispering. What was going on with me? Was I loosing my mind? I shook my head, thinking I was just hearing things. We walked in the arena, and it was already time to sound check everything. Everything seemed to work. We went back and hung around for a few minutes. We got on stage about 5 minutes before. Max carried me out on his shoulders and let me down when I got to the chair, center stage. "We need to do that during the show," I said looking over at him. "Maybe in the end of the last song, dude. Then, I can just carry you out." "That works," I said smiling. "Don't I get to be carried on your shoulders?" Kiearra whined. "After the show, okay Kiearrakins?" "Yeah," she said smiling. The fans started an uproar. "I think we better give 'em what they want," I said. Everyone gave a nod and the curtains opened.

It was toward the end of our set, and Max came in front of me to get on his shoulders. I got on and was lifted up. "Another round for Max Green, everyone!" The crowd went in another uproar. "Thanks for coming out, and goodnight," I said tossing the mic down next to me. Oli caught it and put it on the mic stand. We left the stage. "For once I feel tall," I said laughing. "Well, that's ending soon," Max said. "Oh well, it's fun while it's lasting." I put my hand up and was close to touching the ceiling. "Alright, Bri, time to get down," he said. "Awww," I said disappointed. He kneeled down, and I stepped off. I kinda walked into the room and sat down. After the FIR set, Ronnie came over, "Hey, Bri, could I talk to you for a sec?" "Umm...yeah sure," I got up nervously and walked over with my crutches. We walked down the hallway and into FIR's room. I sat on the couch next to Ronnie, Ryan was the only other person in there. "So, what's up?" I asked. "We need to tell you something," Ronnie said. "Is it that bad?" "Well, it effects you greatly." I was looking around, shaking some. "How so?" I asked nervously. "Do you think I have enough room in here?" Ryan asked, ignoring my question. "I'd move the chair over here," Ronnie replied. "And remember, self control, don't lose it," he added. Ryan nodded and moved the chair next to the couch. I was scared because I didn't know what was going on. "Could someone please tell me why I'm here?" I asked. "We're showing you why," Ryan replied. I was practically in Ronnie's lap by this point, I was so scared. "Alright, let it rip," Ronnie said. Ryan's head started to change shape. He now had a muzzle with razor-sharp teeth. His ears were more pointed. His torso changed shape as well as his legs and arms. His hands and feet became paws, and he grew fur and a tail. His clothes were gone, too. It was the wolf that attacked me. "Ronnie..." I said, hands shaking violently. "Bri, calm down.." "How am I supposed to fucking calm down?" I interrupted. "Wolves don't attack other wolves," Ronnie said. "But I'm not a wolf!" I screamed. Wolf-Ryan sat on the floor. "Be a little more quiet, no one else knows about him, except you and me," Ronnie said. I took a deep breath. "Okay fine, so besides showing me the wolf that attacked me, why am I seeing this?" I asked. "Ryan can explain that better. You can shift back now." Ryan's skin twisted, the tail disappeared, his ears went to normal shape, along with his head and body. He was human once again, fully clothed. "You still got the bite mark?" Ryan asked. "I think so," I replied. Ryan came over and looked on both sides of my neck. "Yeah, it's fresh, too." "What are you talking about?" "When I bit you, blood came out, right?" I nodded. "That means, my werewolf venom went in you. You don't know how sorry I am for this." "I understand. Just tell me everything," I said. "Well, that's the problem, I can't. You had two bites on your neck, and I don't think I was responsible for the other one." I looked at Ryan wide eyed. "What is?" I asked. "This is so hard to explain." Ryan said, shaking his head, "I think a vampire got a hold of you before Ronnie and I got back to you. Maybe it didn't like your blood, so you were already bitten and it left." "Wait, you're not pulling my leg, are you?" "What do you mean?" "As in, I'm not dreaming, am I? The wolves and vampires aren't all in my head?" Ryan took a deep breath, "Sadly, no. We keep ourselves well covered. You never knew I was a wolf, did you?" "No, but...how?" "It's hard to explain, you'll learn as time goes. I don't even know what'll happen." This scared me a little. "I appreciate you telling me," that's all I could say. Ryan nodded. "You're not scared or anything, are you?" he asked. "Well, a little, I don't know what's to be expected. That scares me a bit." Ronnie held me a little closer to him. "I'll tell you things as time goes," Ryan said. That brought my spirits up a little. At least I knew someone was watching over me. "Feel a little better?" Ronnie asked. "Yeah, I guess. I'm going to be a little on edge for what's to come and when," I replied. "I'm sure you'll be fine," Ronnie said smiling at me. "Yeah," I said smiling back. "Just keep as calm as you can, and you should be fine," Ryan said. I nodded. The Escape The Fate set ended about 40 minutes later, and we all went out to the busses. I was on Ronnie's shoulders, Kiearra was on Max's, and Oli was on Craig's. I was starting to get really tired, more than usual. I'd usually be at least somewhat awake, but now I was yawning and almost falling asleep on Ronnie's shoulders. Must've been some weird wolf thing going on with me. Not too many people came out, so we pretty much went straight to the busses. When I got on, I saw that someone found my notebook and brought it back. I sat on my bunk and flipped through it. "You're a pretty good writer," Jacky complimented. "Thanks, I'm taking a guess you were the one that found it," I said. He nodded. "Thanks for bringing it back." "No problem, I kinda figured it was yours." "Yeah," I said turning to the last page with writing on it. It was almost painful to relive those last moments I was full human. *You've gotta stop looking at this like it's a negative. There's gotta be some positives to this,* I thought to myself. Well, I'd most likely live longer. Then again, unless Ronnie became a wolf, I would have to live without him sooner or later. All my senses would probably get a little more powerful. I'd probably talk to Ryan more about it tomorrow. I was too tired for the moment. Not much later, I fell into a deep sleep.

I was running through some forest, wind through my fur, tail almost dragging on the ground. I slowed down to a trot as I arrived to a small river. I saw my unfamiliar reflection. Blood splattered across my face, which was black and white. Wondering where the blood came from, I hurried from where I came. Total disaster was present as I got to the small, circular clearing. Tents, belongings, and bodies thrashed about. Five other wolves were still in the area, one was pure black, another was almost an orange or red color, the next was ash-like grey, the biggest wolf (alpha?) was standing in the middle with a black and grey coat, the last one that was present was a black wolf with grey streaks. I looked down, only to see the grass and my white paws. *C'mon, Bri, it's time to go,* the largest wolf called by thought. I was still trying to figure out what I was doing. I slowly walked over to the small pack. Amongst the pile of bodies, a few faces could be picked out. I was terrified. I let out a loud howl, showing my unease. The pack turned around, and started to walk towards me. I backed up, they came faster. They ended up tearing me to shreads. My wolf body, left in the middle of the clearing, with the other humans.

"Bri, wake up!" I heard Ronnie yell. I slowly got up and looked down, just making sure I wasn't torn into shreads. "What's got you so worked up?" he asked. I kinda glared at him. "Oh, well you were screaming that's why I was asking," he explained. It was only 5 in the morning. This whole thing was making me into a nervous wreck. I was almost crying, that nightmare scared me deeply. "Alright, what happened?" he asked. I got a little closer to him, so he could hear me whisper. I told him everything. "You might wanna talk to Ry when he gets up," he suggested. "I know, this whole thing is making me go mad," I said, running my hand through my hair. "It was just a dream, now if you feel okay about it, we should get some sleep." I nodded, curling up against him. He started to hum a soft tune to me, to calm me down. It worked, and I soon feel asleep once again. 


	7. Goodbye Graceful: Time For A New Life

It was about 7 when I woke up again from nightmares. This time, when I looked over, Ryan was awake. I got up from my bunk, trying not to wake up Ronnie, and walked over to Ryan. "Let me guess, new wolf nightmares?" Ryan guessed. "You could say that," I said. He moved a little so I could sit down. "You really don't need to worry about this," he said. "But I do. Like the whole shifting, does it hurt?" "The first couple times, yeah. That's only because it's your body getting used to the changing, and why I said to keep calm. I don't see that problem in you, but if you get your heartbeat going fast, it causes a shift. Of course there are some other factors, but that's the main one." "Okay, and how much vampire is in me?" "I don't know that," he lowered his voice a little more, "You're going to have to talk to Craig about that." "You mean, Craig's a vamp?" Ryan nodded. "I'll talk to him when we stop next." "Okay, and I think he can also tell you who you got bitten by." "Really?" "Yeah, I can tell you I bit you, watch." Ryan took his hand and placed it on the left side of my neck where the wolf bite was. I saw his hand glow a soft blue color. He soon removed his hand and showed me some odd symbols that appeared like scratch marks on his palm. "See, that's my name," he said. "How do you know what that says?" "I've been taught the sacred wolf language. You see, though they could also communicate by thought, they also could communicate by these scratch marks made by their claws. They would often put them as territory markings or by pack organization. See," he lifted up his shirt a little so I could see his stomach. There was a circle with what seemed like a night scene with water and little fish inside. It was a light blue color. "That's for the Seaman family pack. I was born into the wolf heritage so I was taught these things when I was younger. Most of the pack symbols are different colors, though. Like mine is light blue for a large pack. Red usually means royalty, black usually means deadly or fierce, green means resourceful, purple is for ones who aren't in packs but have name symbols. And they're in different places or mixed colors, most of the time depending on the pack or name. Sometimes I've seen my symbol change between light blue and green." "I think I might actually like this now. I mean, it might be a hassle now, but later it might be the best thing that's ever happened to me," I said smiling. "I'm glad you're changing your mind about how you feel," he said smiling back. He put his shirt back down. "I think the vamps go by coven names and colors as well, you'd have to ask Craig about it. I think they have their own language, too." "Do you think you can teach me the wolf part?" I asked. "Sure, but another time, not in front of everyone. Even if they are asleep, I don't wanna risk it," he replied. "Okay," I said yawning. "And newborn wolves are often really tired," he said laughing a little. "The fact that I'm also a vamp doesn't help," I said laughing a little myself. "I guess not. I should probably let you go back to sleep," he said. "Yeah, I guess, thanks Ryan," I said hugging him. "No problem," he said letting go. I went back to my bunk, again trying not to wake up Ronnie and went to sleep.

About two hours before the show started, I texted Craig to meet me on the FIR bus, alone. The guys had gone out and were going to be gone till the show started. I could hear him walking towards the bus and walk up the stairs. "Hey, Bri, what's up?" Craig asked. "Not much, I just wanted to ask you some things," I said. "Go for it," he said sitting on my bunk. I sat up a little more, "Can you tell me where this bite came from?" I moved some of my hair out of the way so he could see. "How do you know I can?" he asked. "Well, don't tell him I told you, but Ryan told me to ask you about all this. You're one of the only people I can turn to. Please? Vampire to, well...umm..half-vampire?" Craig let out a sigh, "Okay, fine." I smiled, "Thanks." "No problem, but you do know you could've gone to Max, right?" "No, Ryan never told me about him. He only told me about you." "I guess it doesn't make a difference." I nodded and moved my hair again. He placed his hand on the right side of my neck. It started to glow a light red color. When the light dimmed, he removed his hand and looked at it. The symbol was more like a hand print. "It couldn't be him. He wouldn't do this to you," Craig said in disbelief, looking into his palm more closely. "Who?" I asked curiously. "Nick, I don't think he'd do this, but he very well could've. Did you happen to see him?" "When?" "When you got bitten." "No, I was knocked out by the wolf bite." "Oh okay." I nodded. This was kinda hard to believe. I mean, Nick and I were pretty good friends. Maybe that's why. Maybe the bite helped us bond. "If you get bitten, do you bond better with the person that bit you?" I asked. "Sometimes, it varies between vamps. Do you think that's why you're close with Nick?" "I think so, but I might be wrong." "Okay, actually most people who are bitten marry the person who bit them." I glared at him a little. "What? It's true, I've seen it happen." I shrugged. "Do you know if the same happens with wolf bites?" "It might, another thing to ask Ryan." I nodded. "I'm also taking a guess vamps go by symbols to tell who's who?" "Yeah, if someone's picks mine up, the word Believe comes up on their palm. I'm curious to find out what yours would be." "So am I." "Yours probably won't make an appearance for another few days to a week." "How do I know?" "In most cases, it's what most people know you for. My personal guess is a wolf paw maybe. Or maybe a pack symbol. We just have to wait and see." "Yeah, just wondering, how does the whole blood thing work?" "Well, you'll take notice that no matter how much water you drink, you'll still be thirsty. Your teeth also get sharper. Tell me or Max when that happens, and we'll lead you through the rest." "Okay, thanks Craig," I said hugging him. "No problem, you wanna come on our bus for a little bit?" "Sure." I smiled and got up. I got off the bus first and went to the ETF bus.

We hung around a little before the show and signed some stuff for fans. After the show, we did the same. I noticed something was odd, my snake bites were rubbing on my teeth. I caught up to Max. "Hey, could I talk to you for a sec?" I asked. "Sure," he replied. We walked a little ways away. "Could you take me hunting?" I asked. It was almost painful to say that. "Sure, I think I need to go myself." I let out a sigh of relief. "I need to be taught, though," I said. "No problem. This your first?" I nodded. "Okay, it's not too hard. Are you going to be a vegetarian?" "What does that mean?" "Do you want human or animal? Since most vamps get human, we call the ones that get animal vegetarians." "Oh okay, vegetarian." He nodded and took me to the woods that were about a mile away. He carried me for most of it. "Since I'm a vamp and wolf, do you think I can get out of these faster?" I asked. "By the end of the week maybe, it might be longer, though," he replied. "Really? You must heal really fast." "We do." I smiled, knowing I could stop using these crutches soon kinda made my night. We got to the woods a few minutes later. Max put me down on a stump. "I'll be back before you know it," he said. He ran off in a blur. I was alone, looking around. I heard wolves. "Wolves dont attack other wolves," I remember Ronnie saying. I calmed down some, and heard them again. *I hope it's just Ryan,* I thought. *And it is,* I heard the familiar voice think back. I let out a small scream and looked next to me. The ash-grey wolf was standing by me. "Hi, Ryan," I said. *Hi, I didn't know I could hear your thoughts when you're human. Interesting,* he thought looking around. *I didn't know we could talk through our thoughts.* *We can, I wonder if I can hear yours when I'm human as well.* *That would be cool.* *So, what are you doing out here so late?* he asked, sitting next to me. *On a hunting trip with Max, how about you?* *Same. You decided to be a vegetarian, huh?* *Yeah, I refuse to drink from wolves, though.* *Nice way to go.* I nodded. I could hear footsteps coming closer. *I guess I'd better go,* he thought. *Okay, see you on the bus,* I thought. He nodded and got up on all fours and walked off. Max came back, holding something in his hand. Once he got to me, he placed the deer carcass on the ground. I looked up at him, "What am I supposed to do with this?" "Just bite into it. It's kinda like drinking through a straw, if you think about it." "Do I just like, bite into the neck?" "Yeah." I nodded and got on the ground, next to the deer. I saw there was already a small bite mark on the back of its neck. "I had a little, couldn't help it," he said. I laughed a little and bit into another side of the neck. I had a little, not too bad. Now, this was going to be part of my diet. I had it dry and got up. "So, what do we do with it?" "I leave it for other animals to eat." "Not a bad idea." He nodded. "These are going to shrink back, right?" I asked, poking my fangs. "Yeah, in a few minutes," he replied. We soon went back and got on the busses. "Hey, guys," I said. "I think Bri's cheating on ya, Ronnie. She was out with Max," Ryan joked. "Did he show you why he's called The Ripper?" Jacky added. We all laughed. I walked back to my bunk, still laughing a little. "You know I wouldn't cheat on you, right?" I asked. "Yeah, they're just joking," Ronnie replied. I smiled and was laying down. It was a very interesting day, and probably one I would remember forever.


	8. My Favorite Kind of Love Story

Saw FIR a couple weeks ago. Didn't meet any of the guys, but oh well. Hopefully this chapter comes out nicely. Thanks again to all those who have been reading. :)

As the days went on, I noticed the pain I was having was drifting away. I had to stop by a doctor's office to get the casts taken off. I got on the bus after and went to my bunk. Odd looks were given to me as I walked pass. "How did you heal up that fast?" Jacky asked. "I'm not sure, in my blood I guess," I said smiling and winking at Ryan. They were still looking at me awkwardly. I shrugged and sat on my bunk next to Ronnie. He looked at my wrist, turning it over so the underside was facing up. "When did you get that tattoo?" he asked softly. "I don't know, I didn't have it before I got hurt," I said looking at it. The word Dreamer was written across my left wrist in purple with a star and cresent moon under it. We soon both realized it was my vamp symbol. "Just play it off as a tat, okay?" "Yeah, I will. If Craig can, then I should be able to," I replied. He nodded and kissed me on top of my head. I moved closer to the window as we started to take off for the road again. "Hey, could you hand me my bracelets back?" I asked. Ronnie nodded. Since he was closest to the isle of the bus, he reached under my bunk and got into my guitar bag. He rose back up a few moments later, six rubber bracelets in hand. I usually put three on each wrist. I had a red one that had the Escape The Fate logo written in black, one that had GIR on it, the other one was black with white writing that said The Drug In Me Is You on one side and Falling In Reverse on the other; those went on my left wrist. I also had one that was black with pink writing that said I (heart) Bad Guys, another that was black with white writing that said I (BVB logo) BVB with stitches on the other side, the last one was yellow with blue writing that said Music Is My Boyfriend; those went on my right wrist. I noticed when I put on the Music Is My Boyfriend one on, there was Ronnie's name written before music in black sharpie. "You did this, didn't you?" I asked looking at him. "Yeah, well it makes some sense. I'm your boyfriend therefore so is my music," he replied. "Good point," I said smiling. He nodded and kissed me on the top of my head and grabbed my hand. Our fingers intwined. I got a good look at the rose tattoo on his hand. "Did that one hurt?" I asked. "A little more than a more ordianary one since it's on my hand. Not too bad, though. Were you thinking about getting one?" "Yeah, maybe one like Max's claws on his hand but a little different. I mean, it would still be like a paw shape, but I would change it up a little." "Oh okay, maybe another time you should get a rose on your hand, too," he said smiling at me. "Yeah, a paw on my left and a rose on my right," I agreed smiling back. "Just don't get 'em on the same night." "I won't. I think I'll get the rose tonight." We smiled at each other and he kissed me on the cheek.

It seemed like forever had passed when we finally got to our hotel in Florida. Our next show was in Florida, but not for another night. We got to our room and put our stuff down. Ronnie and I shared a room with Ryan for certain reasons. Everyone else kind of just scattered about between rooms. Most of FIR stayed in the next room over and same with ETF. Of course, Kiearra and Oli stayed with them. "So, do you wanna go now?" Ronnie asked. "Sure, do you mind me asking Kiear and Max about getting one?" I asked. "Sure." I nodded and walked to the next room over. I knocked on the door, waiting for someone to get it. I could hear someone's footsteps coming closer and open the door. "Hey, Bri, what's up?" Max asked. "Not much, Ronnie and I were going to get tattoos, you two wanna come along?" "Sure, you want me to ask Oli, too?" "Sure," I said. Max walked back in the room and came back with Kiearra a few minutes later. "Ready to go?" she asked. I nodded and went back to our room to get Ronnie. "C'mon, it's time to go," I said through the door. Ronnie came out and gave me a hug. "Just the four of us?" "Yep." After that, we walked out to the car we rented for the day. We got a yellow and black Charger. Though, I didn't like yellow so much, it didn't really matter since it was just for a day or two. We drove to the closest tattoo location we could find, about 10 miles from our hotel. We got out and walked inside. There were two guys standing around, looking bored. Business must've been slow today. I guess not many people liked getting tats on a Thursday evening. "Hey," the shorter guy said. "Hi," I said. "So, is it going to be all four of you?" "No, just the two of us," I replied putting a hand on Kiearra's shoulder. "Okay then, design ideas?" I grabbed Ronnie by the wrist and held up his hand. "I'd like a rose like this, but different writing and colors," I said. He nodded and looked over at Kiearra. She turned Max's arms to show the under side. "I'd like the stars on both arms," she said. He nodded again and looked at the other guy, who was a little taller than him. The shorter guy was maybe 6' 1" with short black hair that had white streaks in it. The taller guy was probably 6' 3" or so with short blonde hair and blue streaks. The taller guy took me back, Ronnie not far behind. I sat in the chair and looked around. Just some random band posters on the wall behind us and some other band logos on the other walls. I looked at the one on black paper with white writing. "Escape The Fate featuring Falling In Reverse and RedHeartsOfDeath. June 25th at 5:30. Door open at 5:00. Location: Jacksonville." I smiled and looked at Ronnie. "It's pretty cool seeing this, isn't it?" the tall guy asked. "Yeah, are you going?" I asked. "Yeah, and I guess I even get to meet part of the band a day before the show," he replied smiling. "Well, you've got a member of all three bands here, so why not," I said laughing a little. "Well, it's nice to meet you, I'm Trey, and over there is my brother, Mike." "Cool, as you may already know, I'm Bri and this is Ronnie." We both shook Trey's hand as he got ready to get my tattoo done. "So, what colors do you want this?" he asked. "I want the rose white and some black splatters on it with purple text," I replied. "What text do you want?" I thought for a moment, "My Favorite Kind Of Love Story." Trey nodded and got a design for it. That took about a half hour and he got the outline and put it on the top of my right hand. He peeled it off and it left the outline on my hand. *Okay, don't be afraid of the needle. I'm not afraid of the needle,* I thought to myself. I was honestly horrified of needles, but loved the look of tattoos, and this was my first. Trey told me to make a fist with my hand. I did as I was told as the needle came in my hand.

A few hours later, Trey was done on my hand. Kiearra was done about two hours before me. It hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it. I shook my hand around a little to get the blood flow back. "You like it?" Trey asked. "Yeah, it's awesome, thanks," I replied. "No problem," he said with a smile. I got up from the chair and almost fell. I caught myself and walked up to the counter to pay for my new ink. After all that was taken care of, we walked out to the car. Ronnie was holding me by the waist so I wouldn't almost fall again. I got in passenger, since I didn't really want to drive and I was really tired. I wasn't sure if it was because I wasn't getting enough sleep (which was almost impossible), or maybe because I just had a needle stuck in my hand for the past few hours. I also found car rides to being extremely boring, no matter who else was in the car with me. Whatever it was, I found myself crashed out tired. About fifteen minutes later, I had to get up. It wasn't like I couldn't sleep in the hotel room. I stretched my arms and got out of the car along with everyone else. We walked to our room. "Night, guys," I said. "Night," Kiearra and Max said. Ronnie and I walked in the room. I dropped down on the bed with a yawn. "That tired, huh?" Ronnie asked. I nodded with another yawn. Ryan came in a few moments later, "Hey, you guys wanna meet Craig downstairs for a drink?" Ronnie looked over at me. "Go ahead and go, I'll be fine," I said. "Okay, see ya," Ronnie said kissing me on the forehead. They turned off the lights for me and left.

A little after they left, I awoke coughing. I didn't think much of it, allergies maybe? I just shook my head and got some water, that didn't help much. Maybe I had a cough drop somewhere. I looked in my suitcase, nothing. I let out a sigh and tried to sleep again, but the coughing kept me up. A sudden rush of pain swept over me. It was pretty mild at first, then it got the point where I couldn't handle it. It was almost like all the bones in my body were breaking to form something new. Whatever it was, it hurt like hell. I started to scream because it hurt so bad. The pain started from my feet up. It almost felt as if my feet were getting shorter. My legs felt as if they were getting to a new shape, though I couldn't see so well. My abdomen didn't hurt as bad, but my arms and hands hurt as much as my legs and feet. My head felt like it was getting smaller, my face gaining a new shape. My mouth was extended into a muzzle shape, and my teeth were getting a sharpness feel to them. My ears hurt, too, just not as bad. I started to break into a horrific howl. I dragged my body to the bathroom, where there was a full size mirror. Even though it was pitch black, I could see clearly that the reflection in the mirror shouldn't be mine. It belonged to a beast, one that wasn't same old Bri. I stared at the unfamiliar wolf figure, hoping for it to move. Sadly, it didn't. This is what I had become, and no one could change it. The black and white streaked coat was like the one I saw in one of my nightmares. I let out a whimper. There was a knock on the door. "Bri, you okay?" I heard Oli ask. *Fuck!* I thought to myself frantically. I looked around, maybe a hiding place would come to mind. The bathtub was the only place I could go. I quickly shut the bathroom door behind me and jumped in the bathtub, pulling the curtains behind me. *Please, don't let them find me. I don't want to be seen like this,* I thought to myself. Eventually, I found myself asleep. 


	9. The Webs We Weave

"Bri, Bri you okay?" I called through the door once again. I thought I heard the shower curtain move on its rod. Maybe she was just having another one of her nightmares and needed to calm down a little. I let out a sigh and went back to my room. Mostly everyone came back upstairs. The only exceptions being Ronnie, Max, Kiearra, Ryan, and Derek. It was only Craig and I in the room at the time, about to go to sleep. "Have you ever noticed Bri's acting weird lately?" I asked. "Not really, why?" he questioned. "I don't know, I just think something's wrong. She's sleeping like twice as much as she usually does, and half the time she has nightmares." "Yeah, but I'm sure she's fine. Just let her be, her body's just probably getting used to the tour schedule." "Yeah, I guess." "Trust me, she's going to be okay." I nodded and curled up closer to his chest. I sent her a quick text, just to make sure. She'd reply soon enough. I just kind of shook off the thought and fell asleep.

It must've been at least two hours before I heard our room door open. I shot my head up, but stayed put in the tub. They must've noticed I wasn't asleep in the bed anymore. "Bri, you still in here?" I heard Ronnie ask. I wanted to say I was in the bathroom, but the human words wouldn't come to form out of my new mouth. I put my paws over my muzzle and waited to see if they would come in. Surely enough, the bathroom door opened. Ryan must've heard my thoughts. My heart dropped and started to beat a little faster. I let out a deep growl as I saw a hand coming towards the curtain. Well, that blew my cover twice as much as if I didn't. The curtain was opened anyway, Ryan on the other side. "Hey, Ronnie, you might wanna come see this," Ryan said. *I'm fucked now,* was all I could think. Ronnie came in and just stared at me. I let out a whimper and moved closer to the back of the tub, my claws were scratching at the surface. "Bri, just come out, nothing bad is going to happen," Ronnie said. I moved a little closer to them and sat. "What happened?" Ryan asked. *Well, I don't really know. I started coughing, and there were just shots of pain everywhere,* I thought. Ryan nodded, "I should've remembered that." "Remembered what?" Ronnie asked. "If a wolf doesn't shift in at least a week or two of being bitten, you just shift by yourself." *Am I going to shift again?* I asked. "We'll see when you get back to normal, and I can explain more then, okay?" I nodded. I guess I felt a little better. The guys moved so I could get out. "Nice and easy," Ryan said. I took it paw by paw, slowly climbing out. *It's really weird feeling on four feet,* I thought. "I know, you get used to it," Ryan said. We walked back towards the beds. I jumped up and Ronnie sat beside me, petting me. I moved over a little, the whole petting thing was kind of unconfortable for me. I just wanted to feel as human as possible, just not being able to talk or walk on two legs and a few other things. I just put my head on my paws. *Wait, why did my snakes stay in?* I wondered. "I'm not really sure, they just did," Ryan said. I nodded. When I would lick my lips, I could still feel them there. I thought when I shifted back and fourth, they would fall out. Ronnie looked at both of us curiously. Ryan caught him up on everything. *So, how am I supposed to shift back?* I asked. "Well, honestly you shift back while your asleep, most of the time." *I was asleep in the bathroom.* "Oh, try for a whole night, it might work better." I nodded and curled up on the bed, on my side. The clock to my right read 2:01. I let out a sigh and curled up, almost like a dog would sleep. It felt kinda weird, but comfortable. I guess it didn't bother me that much. I raised my head as Ronnie put his hand on my paw and looked up at him. He smiled down at me, and I put my head on his hand. *Goodnight, guys,* I thought. "Goodnight, Bri. She said goodnight," Ryan explained. Ronnie nodded and pulled the blankets over him. "Night, Bri," Ronnie said. He put his other hand on my head and went down to the side of my neck. If I was human at that moment, I'm pretty sure my face would've been really red, but I wasn't so I guess it didn't really matter. Ryan walked over and turned the lights off. I just looked around the room, which I could see clearly. Ever since I was bitten, I could see in the dark extremely well. I pushed all thoughts aside and fell asleep.

The next morning, I sat up and stretched my arms. Ryan was right, I shifted back in my sleep. The thoughts lingered in my head, trying to figure out how that worked. You would think I would've woken up when I shifted back, but I guess not. Then again, I was a pretty heavy sleeper sometimes. I looked around the room, Ryan asleep on the bed next to ours. I looked at the mattress where there was little clumps of fur. I picked up a few pieces and got up from the bed and put them in a pocket of my suitcase. A momento of my first shift, I guess. I got some clothes out while I was there and got dressed in the bathroom. Afterwords, I decided to see what everyone else was up to. I sent a quick text to Oli, making sure it was okay to come over for a little bit. She said it was, so I left Ronnie a text on his phone telling him where I would be and went over. She opened the door so I could get in. "Hi, guys," I said. "Hey, Bri," Kiearra said smiling. Max and Craig waved. I smiled and pulled up a spinny chair that was at a nearby desk and started to spin around. "Bri, you just gave me an idea," Max said with a smirk. He came over and pushed me out to the hallway, Craig followed. "Okay, what is this master plan you have?" I asked. "You'll find out," he said. He pushed me down to the end of the hallway and started to run and spin me around rapidly. Craig was on the other end of the hall to catch me. I was pushed about for a little bit, screaming the whole time, until Max stopped the chair. I got up, feeling very dizzy, and almost fell. "That was fun!" I exclaimed. "My turn!" Kiearra called from the room. When she ran out, I walked in and started to lay down on the bed. I was amazed no one came out complaining. Oli came and sat next to me. She grabbed my right hand and looked at the rose I got the night before. "You know, this reminds me of the White Lotus cover," she said. "It kinda does," I said smiling. We both went to an Eyes Set To Kill concert a couple months before going on our own tour. "Did it hurt?" she asked. "Well, not really," I said. It was kind of hard to explain since when your bitten, the healing rate is a lot faster. She put my hand down, and we watched Kiearra go back and forth in the chair. I soon recovered from my dizzyness and got up. Oli soon got her turn. "Okay, I want my turn," Craig demanded. I pushed the chair down towards the end where Max was and ran back to the other end. Eventually, everyone got a turn, because spinny chairs are awesome, in my personal opinion. I pushed Max back into our room and placed him at the foot of the two beds. Kiearra went over and sat on his lap, while I sat on the empty bed to their right. "I'm trying to figure out how could anyone sleep through that," I thought out loud. "I know, you think they would've woken up by now. Speaking of trying to sleep, what was with all the screaming last night?" Oli asked. I hated lying, but it was for my own good, "Well, I had a nightmare and woke up. I took a shower to relieve stress." She seemed to buy it, which I was thankful for. It was Craig and Max that looked like they didn't. I mouthed, I'll explain later and they nodded.

Later on, we got back on the bus and started to drive towards Jacksonville. All of us were already dressed and ready to go. We got to the venue and got our stuff set up and sound checked. I would have to say, that performance was probably the best one of the tour so far. After we went back backstage, I talked to Craig and Max. "I'll tell you this much, shifting is a bitch," I said in a soft tone. "So, that's why you were screaming?" Craig assumed. I nodded. "Okay, that makes sense." "Yep, I won't go into details, but that's pretty much it." "It gets easier, I'm taking a guess it was your first?" "Yeah, and Ronnie and Ryan were the ones who found me." "Oh okay." I nodded again. We soon went our separate ways, and I found myself walking around bored. I sat on one of the crates they keep drum equipment in and watched Falling In Reverse's set from there. After a few songs, I saw Ronnie look over at me and motioned for me to come over. I came back on stage as he started to come over to me. "You wanna do the screamers for Goodbye Graceful?" he asked. "You know it!" I replied excitedly. We walked on stage, hand in hand, and got another mic. "I'm going to let the guys take a break from some screams. So for now, Bri's going to do it," he said into the mic. I smiled and blushed a little. It came time for my part, so I screamed my little heart out, and did a pretty good job I thought. Especially since I only scream during my own time. As for Kiearra, she screams on almost a daily basis. Oh well, it was a pretty good set. Ronnie came back over to me and said I could do some vocals with Situations, too. I was excited to do that one because it was one of my favorite songs. While the guitar note at the end was being held out, Ronnie came over and wrapped his arm around my waist. We thanked everone for coming out and got off stage so ETF could start soon. Kiearra and Oli went on stage for the last song, This War Is Ours. Tonight was probably one of the best nights I could remember. We walked out and signed some stuff and got some pictures with the fans. Afterwords, we got on the bus, and I was wide awake to my surprise. I looked outside the bus window. *Hey, is the whole full moon shift thing real?* I asked Ryan by thought. It was pretty cool that even with a human body we could communicate by thought. *No, it's just a legend. Why?* *I feel wide awake, and you know how odd that is for me.* *Yeah, that happens on full moon nights.* *Oh okay, thanks.* *No problem.* I think we were going to be parked here overnight and leaving early that morning. Everyone else was getting ready to go to sleep, even though I knew Ryan couldn't do that easily. Oh well, it was probably best to try. Ronnie stayed up with me, as I could hear everyone's heartbeats and breathing patterns slow down. "Can't sleep, can ya?" Ronnie asked softly. "No, I can't, and I'm not sure you'd understand why," I replied softly. "It's because it's a full moon, even I know that." "Oh, how do you know so much about the wolves?" "I don't really wanna talk about it." "Okay, you don't have to," I said looking up at him. He smiled back at me and softly pressed his lips against mine. Nautrally, I kissed back. He soon broke it, and I'm pretty sure my face was really red. "You blush really easily, ya know?" he asked. "Yeah, I do," I replied. We stayed up for a couple more hours, and then I started to yawn. "Well, it looks like the full moon's effect is going away," he said smiling at me. "Yeah, I guess so," I said with another yawn. "I guess we should get some sleep." I nodded in agreement. "Night, Bri," he said, kissing me softly again. "Night, Ronnie."

I tossed and turned in my bunk. "Max, you okay?" Kiearra asked. "I'm fine, I just can't sleep. I hate fucking full moons," I replied. "Awww, poor Maxie." "I know I can deal, but you gotta promise to stay up with me." "That can be done," she said kissing me. "Okay, good," I said smiling. As my lips curved, I almost cut my lip. I winced a little, "Hey, I'm going to go out. You wanna come?" "Sure." We got out of the bus, trying to be as quiet as possible, and started to walk till we reached a somewhat wooded area. "What would you think if I asked you to change me?" Kiearra asked. "Well, that was kinda random," I said. "Just answer the question." "Well...I guess it's your choice. I mean, I didn't really want to do it at first, but I was forced to." "I know, but I want this, please?" I let out a sigh. I really didn't want to do it, but she was willing (plus her blood smelled really good). So, I couldn't really say no. "Fine, I'll do it," I said. "Yay! Thanks, Maxie," she said hugging me. We walked a little deeper into the woods, so far we couldn't see out. "You sure you wanna do this?" I asked. "I'm positive, just do it," she replied. She seemed like she really wanted it. "You might wanna sit down, though," I suggested. She nodded and sat in the grass. I sat to her left and moved her hair out of the way of her neck. "Just letting you know, this is going to hurt, a lot," I said. She nodded, so I guess she understood. Honestly, I was still a little hesitant. I've never bitten a human before, and I didn't want to lose control. Oh well, I was going to try it. I dug my fangs into her neck. It was then when I realized there weren't many vegetarian vamps out there. I heard her wince quite a few times. "Okay, Max, you can stop now. I'm getting dizzy," she said. It was like I couldn't, the blood was so fucking good. She hit my arm a few times to get me to stop. I had one last drink and stopped. I held her in my arms because I knew she was going to pass out. Well, my blood thirst was taken care of and so was Kiearra's wish. She was going to get what she wanted. She came back a few minutes later with a groan. "You okay?" I asked. "I will be, let's just go back," she said. I nodded and helped her walk back by holding her by the waist. She also had her arm wrapped around my neck. I carried her back on to the bus and placed her on our bunk. I got in after her. "You're going to be okay, right?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm still a little dizzy though. I'll be fine," she replied. "Okay, well the best of wishes to your night. Goodnight, Kiearra," I said. "Night, Max," she said kissing me softly. We both fell asleep not much later. 


	10. Reverse The Curse

I awoke late the next afternoon. I turned my phone on to see the time, 4:30. Ronnie wasn't beside me, probably around the bus somewhere was my guess. He must've been up a while. Ryan was even awake, and he had the same problem I did with the moon.

"So, she lives!" Ryan exclaimed.

"I'm alive! Believe it or not gentlemen, but I am indeed, alive," I said sarcastically.

"Well, congrats on living," Ronnie said as he walked to the side of my bunk. He sat down beside me.

"I know, isn't it great?" I asked.

"Greater than words can explain," he said putting his arm around me and kissing me softly.

"Okay, enough with the lovey-dovey moments. We've gotta go soon, and Bri's gotta get ready and quick," Ryan said.

"I guess," I said getting up.

I got into my suitcase and got out some skinnies and a t-shirt. I walked to the bathroom to get dressed and came back out moments later with black skinnies and an Escape The Fate shirt on.

"Banishment from the bus! Leave now!" Ronnie ordered.

"Never!" I yelled.

He came over and wrapped his arm around me.

"You know I'm kidding. I would never banish you," he said.

"I know, just playing along with the whole ETF and FIR argument. I still don't see why people make a big deal out of it," I said.

"They just don't know the real story. I've been in the music industry long enough to understand that."

"I guess so."

"Yeah, oh here's your bracelets if you want them," he said handing me my bracelets.

"Thanks," I said taking them from him, one by one and putting them on.

He nodded at me. After I was done putting them on, we headed outside for the venue. We walked inside and towards our dressing room area. I went with the rest of FIR since the rest of the bands weren't inside yet. The three other members went elsewhere. I guess I was acting kind of off.

"You okay, Bri?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

He gave me a concerned look and turned away. I felt a sudden rush of pain.

"Okay, I'm not fine," I said in a hushed tone.

"Come on, let's go to our room," Ryan suggested.

I tried to get up, and stumbled. Ronnie was behind me and caught me. I stumbled down the hall to Falling In Reverse's room, but I could hardly make it. As soon as I stumbled inside, I sat on the floor. My fingers intwined and locked behind my head. It felt as if my insides were about to explode. It starts as a fire, and spreads. I was shaking really bad, and all Ronnie and Ryan could do was watch as a beast was released.

* * *

><p>I still remember my first shift. It was about ten years ago, I was angry as fuck about something that I can't remember. I just wanted to get away, so I went to Max's house. His place was about a mile away, but I walked. Along the way, there were open spaces I had to walk through. Clouds were stirring about in the sky. I put the hood up on my black and white hoodie. I heard distant barks, outside dogs is what I thought it was. Moments later, I was pushed to the ground, hard. It knocked the breath out of me. The wolf was huge with its russet color coat. It only gave me seconds to turn around, get up, and run. The wolf came charging after me and tackled me again. This time, biting down on my wrist. The bite must've knocked me out. Next thing I know, I'm in an unfamiliar house. I think I was in the living room, laying on the couch. I looked down at my wrist, the bite was clear as day.<p>

"What the fuck were you thinking, Ashley? You can't just go around and bite some random kid!" A guy yelled.

"That's the problem, I wasn't in the right mind of thinking! It wasn't my fault!" A girl defended.

"I knew you wouldn't be good for this pack."

"I just need to be trained better."

"Whatever, just leave me alone, please."

I sat up as the guy walked into the living room and sat down.

"What am I doing here?" I asked.

"Recovering. What's your name, kid?" he asked me.

"Ronald, Ronnie is preferred."

"Well, Ronnie, I'm Clark. There seems to be a misunderstanding."

"What do you mean?"

"As in you're going to have to stay here for a while, under low profile. I'll explain later, but you need to eat. There's some food on the table in the kitchen."

I was confused. Why was this guy being so nice to me? Why was I here? So many questions, so little anwers. I lived my life among the wolves for a good five years after. Learned and studied as many things as I could. Then my music career came about, and I went on tour.

"Please, Ronnie, behave yourself," Clark said before I left. He was like a father to me by this point.

"I'll try my best," I said, giving him a hug.

Our bus was out in the driveway, honking at me to hurry up. I told him I would try and visit him again soon. I picked up my bags and got on the bus. A few months later, I was involved in a killing. I was in my wolf form, so I didn't really know what I was doing. My coat was as dark as the night and it just happened. I was placed before a werewolf council in France. They took away my venom, which was ever so painful, so I could never shift again. I guess it could be restored, but the Council would know eventually. Oh well, human life is okay. Sometimes, though, that wolf is just aching to get out, and I can feel it. I wished for that life to live again. Maybe with some convincing, I could get someone to do it. As long as I can stay under the Council's radar, or get the courage to face them again. As long as I had Bri by my side, nothing would be impossible.

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do now?" Ryan asked.<p>

"I don't know, but we need to either put Bri away or keep Oli and Kiearra away from this room," I replied.

"She said she'd rather stay here."

"I guess we tell them to stay with ETF. At least till the concert starts."

"I'll stand outside the door, but you have to stay in here with her."

"Deal."

Ryan left the room. I sat on the couch, and Bri followed. She looked at me desperatley.

"I wish I knew what went on in that head of yours. Well technically I do, but only in my own experience," I said.

She looked up at me curiously.

"I'll tell you later."

* * *

><p>(Kiearra wrote this part ^_^)<br>I sat on a couch in the ETF room and twisted my sliver skull ring around on my middle finger. I still couldn't believe I turned Kiearra into a vampire. I guess it was the right thing to do since that's what she wanted. It just reminded me of what Lexus did to me. I looked up when I heard the door to the dressing room open and in walked Kiearra. "Hey, babe." I said giving her a smile. "I can't find Bri anywhere and we need to talk about the show tonight." She said as she came over and sat next to me. I put my arm around her and laughed. It was kinda funny how she always got worked up on show days. "Chill, dude. She's probably just in the Falling In Reverse dressing room." "I tried but Ryan wouldn't let me in." "That's weird, but has your eyes turned red or anything since last night?" I asked her. I knew I would have to explain all the details of being a vampire to her soon. I just hoped she didn't get blood thirsty while she was on stage or around anyone besides me. She shook her head no and gave me a slightly confused look. "Okay if they do tell me like right away, kay Kiearrakins?" "Yeah sure thing Max..." She was still giving me a confused look. "I'll explain later, dude." I said kissing the top of her head. "Can I ask you something?" "Yeah sure anything." "How did you get turned into a vampire?" I sighed and began to tell her the story.

*Flashback* Lexus and I had just gotten back from partying at the Key Club in LA. Then we had to make a stop because she got blood thirsty but now we were resting in the comfort of her apartment. I interlaced my fingers together placed them behind my head and laid back on her bed. Soon Lexus was laying on the bed next to me. "You know Max I was thinking about us." She said as she ran her fingers through my hair. "Yeah what about us?" "Well you know how I'm a vampire and you're human?" "Yeah I know, dude." "So let me change you." "What the fuck? Are you serious, dude?" I asked sitting up to look at her better. "Just think about it, babe. We can start our own clan and take over LA." "I don't know..." "Well don't you love me?" "Of course I do, babe. I'm just not sure if I wanna change my whole life around." I said pulling my lip ring through my lip. "But, babe. We can be immortal together. Together as one..." "Against all others..." "Let me change you, Max. Just thing about it we can take over the world." "You're pushing it, Lex." "I'm doing this for us, babe." Lexus said as she sunk her fangs into the side of my neck. then everything went black.

"That's it she just changed you?" "Mhm. Then cheated on me like a week later." "That's horrible, Max. I can't believe she did that to you." "Don't worry about Kiearra. Being a vampire is actually pretty killer." I reassured her. "Now tell me everything I need to know." She said giving me an attentive look. "Well, you'll notice like all your sences are really amped up. You gotta be so careful about how you handle things because of that." She nodded meaning she understood. "Let's see, we also go by clans." "Clans?" "Like groups of vampires that are somehow linked. So, in your case, you'd be in our clan." "So, is there a leader then?" "Yeah, Craig. He'll give you your official mark." "Mark?" "Yeah, it's how we identify clans and individual vamps." "Oh okay." "Yep, pretty much all that's left is stuff I have to explain later when we hunt." "Okay." She said smiling. "Sound killer?" I asked. She nodded. "Good." I said smiling. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "Can I come in?" I heard Bri's voice ask. "Sure, dude." I said. She walked in, and Kiearra got up and gave her a hug. They both sat on the couch. "So, why wouldn't Ryan let me in earlier?" Kiearra asked. "I wasn't feeling the best, so I was laying down. I feel better now, though." She replied. I gave Bri a death glare. I could very well guess she wasn't sick. She again mouthed to me she would explain later.

* * *

><p>Our show went pretty well that night. After the show, I felt the need to go hunting again. I couldn't find Max or Craig, which was kind of odd. So, I had to go solo, which I felt comfortable with. I told Ronnie and Ryan where I was going to be and left. Some fans came up to me as I was leaving, which kind of surprised me. I kept walking till I reached some wooded area. It was at least five miles from our buses. I walked a little deeper into the woods so I wouldn't be seen. A deer crossed my line of vision. I bolted after it and tackled it to the ground. After its neck was snapped, I bit into it and got some blood. After I was done, I rose up. I didn't feel full. My instincts took over, and I went deeper into the woods. I growled in frustration when I could only find a couple of foxes. I was hoping for better, but oh well. My stomach started turning again. I didn't know why, because this was one of my least wolf-like moments. I tried to fight it, like Ryan has told me to do, but failed. My wolf body rose from the ground where I was laying down, trying to ignore the pain. I stumbled a little, trying to regain my balance. Good thing I gave my bracelets to Ronnie or I probably wouldn't get them back tomorrow. I let out a sigh, I couldn't go back in this kind of shape. I looked to my left, where there seemed to be a campfire. I went to it, but stood back about thirty feet or so. Was that Kiearra? And why were Craig and Max with her? I stayed low and watched. It seemed like some vampire ritual.<p>

"This might hurt a little bit," Craig said.

"Okay," Kiearra said.

Max covered her mouth with his hand. I saw Craig dig his fingernail over the outline of her star tattoo on her left arm. I heard mumbled screams coming from Kiearra. It even looked painful. Then, Craig went along the inside of the star, and covered it with his scratches.

*I wonder why I didn't get one of these,* I thought to myself.

That took at least a half an hour. Kiearra rose up with blood running down her arm.

"That soaks back into your skin. The wound heals very quickly," Craig explained.

Just as he said that, the blood became invisible and her tattoo was clean of any blood.

"So, I'm officially part of the Mabbit Clan?" she asked.

"Yep, now let's go hunting," Max said with a smile and kissing Kiearra softly.

"So, how do I do this?" she asked.

"Just follow what you think seems to be your calling for food."

I could hear her inhale deeply.

"All right, I've got it," she said.

"Now, go for it and kill it," Max said.

She started coming in my direction. I got up slowly got up and started to run away. She bolted after me, and I started to bolt away from her.

"Kiearra, not the wolves!" Max shouted behind her.

I guess she was so much into her tracking, it was like what they said was blocked out. I let out some barks, hoping she'd understand it was me and stop. Instead, she tackled me to the ground. I growled at her, but she didn't lighten up at all. Max came running behind her, trying to get her off. I rolled so she was under me and put a paw on her chest. I breathed heavily, trying to get some air back in my lungs. She struggled, trying to get up. I moved my front paws so they were on her hands and my hind legs on her ankles.

"That was one thing I forgot to tell you. You can't go after wolves of any sort. Vampire law," Max explained.

"That's nice, now can you get this thing off me!" Kiearra demanded.

"Bri, get off," Max told me with a glare.

I looked at him and growled.

"Oh, so they all have names, too?" Kiearra asked all know-it-all like.

"Yes, they do. I want you to look at this one, though," Max said.

Our eyes met for a couple of moments. I got off and moved to her side so she could get up. Her head barely met my chest.

"I don't see it. What am I looking for?" she asked.

"Bri, is there anyway you can shift back?" Craig asked.

I thought of ways that I could. I tried to think of my most human moment. Which to my amazement worked. I was laying on the ground, my human body, breathing heavily.

"Wait, Bri?" Kiearra asked in shock.

I nodded as a response.

"How the fuck did this happen?"

"The same way you became a vampire. Remember when I was in the hospital and my neck was wrapped? Yeah, that was from a wolf bite," I explained.

"But, how?"

"It's hard to explain, but I'll try. Werewolf bites work the same as vampire bites. They alter the body in some way shape or form. With wolf bites, it causes shifting to wolf bodies. Just like with vamp bites it causes blood thirst. Which is why I came out here."

"But, if you're a wolf, how can you be a vamp?"

"I don't know, venoms equally mix and you get this, I guess."

"Oh, I'm sorry for almost killing you."

"It's okay, dude. I'm glad Max was with you, though."

"I know, we don't want a dead singer now," she said with a laugh.

I laughed along with her. Max came over and wrapped his arm around her.

"So, shall we go back to hunting?" he asked.

"Sure, and no wolves this time," she promised.

"I guess I'll tag along," I said.

"Okay, but I'm going back to the bus, night guys," Craig said.

"Goodnight!" we called after him.

We walked around the forest a little bit.

"So, does Oli know about Craig, then?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but I trust that he can handle himself," Max replied.

"Yeah, and why didn't I get one of those rituals done?"

"Probably because a member of the Mabbitt Clan didn't bite you. You have to meet up with the person that bit you and meet the leader of that clan."

"Oh, do you know who the leader of the clan Nick is in is?"

Max glared at me.

"It's Lexus. She's trying to take over LA with her own clan of vamps. I feel so sorry for you, dude," Max said hugging me.

"Wait, didn't Lexus bite you, though?" Kiearra asked.

"Yeah, but I got a clan transfer from Craig. Believe me, I don't wanna go through that again," Max replied.

"Why?"

"Well, you have to be a vamp for a certain amount of time, and you have to get venom transfered. So, Craig sucked all of Lexus's venom from me and overwrote my vamp mark so all of me belonged to his clan. I was knocked out for at least a week. Bri, if you really wanna go through with it, I can do it for you once you reach the age."

"Well, what's the age?" I asked.

"At least three years," Max replied.

"If there's any way I can stay under Lexus's radar for that long, I'm willing."

"Okay, deal," Max said with a smile.

We finished our hunting trip that night and went back to the buses.

"Night, guys," I said.

"Night, Bri," Kiearra and Max said.

I got back on the FIR bus and back to my bunk. Ronnie wasn't there, which I wondered why. Oh well, I curled up under my blankets and fell asleep.


	11. A Chariot Of Fire

The next morning, I was awaken by Ronnie's excitement.

"Come on, Bri, we're filiming today!" he exclaimed.

I let out a groan and turned over to pull the blankets over my head. He pulled them back off. I couldn't help but smile and laugh a little.

"Come on," he said as he started to tickle me.

"Ronnie, quit it!" I screamed while laughing uncontrollably.

"How about no!" he yelled back.

"Why are you guys so loud?" Derek yelled.

"Because we can be!" we both yelled at the same time.

"We probably should keep it down," Ronnie said.

I nodded as he leaned over to kiss me. He started to pull away, but I pulled him back in for one more. Ronnie made it a little deeper from there. I could feel his lips start to curve as he smiled. The kiss kept getting deeper, till eventually I was on top of Ronnie. He soon broke the kiss, and I rose up and sat on his hips. He grabbed my hands, and we intertwined our fingers.

"You're really good at that," he said.

"Good at what?" I asked.

"Luring me in like that. You know, after I got out of prison, I was really shy around girls, and I still kinda am. Except around you."

I looked him in the eyes and smiled.

"We should probably get going guys," Jacky announced from the front of the bus.

I got up and moved to the isle of the bus, followed by Ronnie. We all got out and I saw the werehouse. The group of us walked to a werehouse where we would get dressed and such for the video. We walked inside, and the director told us our roles. Speaking it was the "Raised By Wolves" video, it was pretty ovbious my role. Since I was going to be one of the wolves, I didn't really need to change or anything. So, I just went to the dressing room with Ronnie.

"So, any ideas how this is going to go?" I asked.

"Well, since it's kinda against Escape The Fate in a way, we're thinking like a massive fight between the wolves and the vamps. The Falling In Reverse side are the wolves, and the Escape The Fate side are the vamps," Ronnie explained.

"I like it," I said with a smile.

He nodded at me as he changed to a black shirt and holey jeans. We walked outside and to where we were filiming. A large, open forest area with lights and a few cameras. There was also the band's stuff set up in a clearing. I walked up towards the set and looked around.

"We're not filiming till tonight. Thought we might as well get ready now and just chill the rest of the day," Ronnie explained.

"Sounds like a plan to me," I said.

Ronnie and I walked back to the bus and got in my bunk. He held out his hand in which I placed mine. I noticed something odd on his wrist. It looked like a bite scar.

"What's that?" I asked, tracing its outline.

He stayed silent, but laughed a little. He rubbed his wrist, gently pushing my hand away. He looked up at me.

"Remember when you shifted the other night and I said I knew how you felt?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"I'll sum up the story for ya. About ten years ago, I went to Max's place but on the way got bitten by a wolf. Those people pretty much raised me till I went on my first tour with Escape The Fate. Then, the whole accused murder went on, and well the Council didn't like it. So, I was sent to them and the removed the venom. I haven't been able to do anything wolf-like since," he replied saddened.

"Awww," I said holding him a little closer.

It was quiet for a little while. The only noises I heard were our breathing patterns and Ronnie's heartbeat. I could tell he was thinking up of something.

"Bri, could you please make me a wolf again?" he looked over at me with pleading eyes.

I thought for a while. I had never done this. The closest thing that I have done to changing someone else is out on hunting trips, but I killed.

"I can only try," I said.

His whole face lit up, which made me a little happier, too. I felt I needed to believe in myself a little more to make this possible.

"You know how to do this, right?" he asked.

"I have a general idea," I replied.

"Don't lose control now."

I nodded and concentrated on wolf thoughts. The shifting came easily and nearly pain free. I saw him move around a little, like he was uncomfortable.

"I'm ready," he said, voice shaky.

* * *

><p>Bri looked up at me with the hazel eyes I've known and trusted.<p>

"I trust you, babe. Go for it," I said putting a hand on her head.

She sniffed my wrist hesitantly, and looked up at me again. I nodded to her, giving her the okay. She inched forward, little by little. Her paw was eventually in my palm. She closed her eyes, collecting thoughts was my guess, and dug her teeth into my wrist over the old scar. This time was different, though. The venom pulsing through my veins felt more like a rush rather than a agonizing pain. It was like, seeing that friend that you haven't seen in years. She soon released her grip and shifted. My vision was blurred slightly, and I think I crashed out for about an hour or so. Flashes of random thoughts went through my head. What would happen because of this? Would I be killed against my own will? I woke up startled a little.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Just a little sore," I said as I sat up.

"At least that's all." she said with a smile, hugging me, "So, not too rough?"

"Nope," I replied smiling.

I looked down at my wrist.

"Do you think I can borrow some of your bracelets for the video? It would be best that no one noticed," I asked.

"Sure," she said taking off her bracelets and handing them to me.

* * *

><p>Soon after, we walked outside. The sun was starting to set. The filming crew was setting up some lights and the band's stuff was already set up.<p>

"It's nice," I commented.

Ronnie nodded as Kiearra and Oli walked over with the ETF guys.

"Why did they come?" I asked.

"Well, what's an anti-Escape The Fate song when we can't defend ourselves?" Craig asked.

"Good point. I'm liking this more and more," I said excitedly.

"Good, because you're my chosen wolf to be alpha," Ronnie said.

"Sweet! So, is Ryan going to be in it, too?"

"Maybe."

"So, are there any more?"

"Over there," Ronnie pointed to his left where there was a mixture of wolves and people.

I looked over at him, then back at the group.

"Go on, stop being shy," Ronnie said playfully.

I smiled and shoved him playfully.

"Fine, I'll go," I said.

I walked over, only to see some of the people staring and glaring at me. All of the humans seemed to be having busy conversations. Those all stopped when I walked by. It reminded me of my school days, the outcast of the class. Whatever, I was used to it. I shrugged and sat by one of the wolves, pure white-coated. I don't really understand why they mixed wolves and the werewolves together, more realistic probably. The thoughts continuted to float about in my head as the other still stared. I waved and all they did was give me dirty looks. Why did they hate me? Ronnie came over and stood by me.

"We're starting in about five minutes, guys," he said.

We all nodded and shifted so there were about ten wolves, seven werewolves and three natural wolves. It's a pretty good sized pack if you asked me, and I was in charged of them for the night.

*Hi,* I thought out.

I got snarls as a response, and I backed off.

*What's with the fuss?* I asked.

*You are,* one of the bigger wolves thought. He was massive in size so I really backed up.

*What did I ever do?*

*You were chosen alpha. That kinda automatically makes you target for the rest of us,* the wolf thought again. They started to stalk towards me.

*Plus, you're Ronnie's girl, anyone would kill for that,* one of the girls thought.

*Okay, let's remember what we're here for,* I thought still backing up.

*Guys, back off!* one of the guy wolves yelled. *Leave the poor girl be. It's not like you're locked in a room with her for the rest of your life,* he thought as a matter of factly. His appearance was similar to mine. He was about a foot taller than me, his coat was white with black streaks.

The others seemed to listen to him and backed off. I was stunned a little. I walked up towards him.

*Thanks for saving my back,* I thought.

*No problem, name's Cole. I'm guessing you're kinda a rookie?* he asked.

*Yeah, the only other interation I've ever had with another wolf was with Ryan over there,* I thought and threw my head towards Ryan's direction.

*This should be good for you, then.*

*It should be,* I thought as we kept walking towards the band.

"Okay, Bri, you're going to be starting back there. I want everyone to come in at different angles" Ronnie directed and pointed about thirty feet away, "I would like an entrance of Bri howling and running. Then, as the video goes, we'll signal for each of your arrivals."

We nodded in understandment as one of the other wolves translated it for the three others. I ran back a few feet so I could start it.

"Action!" the director called.

* * *

><p>It was a few minutes before sunrise when we finally finished. All the werewolves shifted back and ran up to join with the guys.<p>

"Great job tonight, guys!" Ronnie congratulated.

I jumped into Ronnie's arms for a hug and a kiss. He put me down and smiled at me. I blushed a little since it was uncommon for us to kiss in public. I got over it and went over to Craig.

"I didn't hurt ya too bad, did I?" I asked.

"Not even a scratch on me," Craig said smiling.

"Good."

I really only asked because towards the end of the video it was an ending of alpha versus coven leader. Since I was representing FIR, I "killed" Craig. I think I stratched him up pretty good, just to look like he was bleeding for a little bit. How I ever loved the art of acting.

"Well, I think it's good to call it a day," Ronnie said.

I yawned, "I would have to agree."

The FIR guys went around and thanked everyone for coming and helping out. We went back to the bus and started to lay down.

"It's kinda sad to think that there's only about a month left of tour," Ronnie said.

"I know. I don't think I could have a better memory than my first major tour," I agreed.

"Yep," Ronnie said as we fell asleep.

* * *

><p>In the next month, I think we gave ourselves a pretty awesome reputation. People still mostly came for FIR and ETF, but it was nice to know we had some people that at least knew our songs by heart. Tonight was our last show for the Massacre tour, and we planned to go out on a chariot of fire. We got the crowd to go into a mosh pit, which was a first. Entertaining to watch, if I say so myself. Ronnie let me sing volcals with him again. Craig let Oli do vocals with him and let Kiearra play bass with Max. That was probably the best show we ever played. That night, we also had the most fans come out to meet us. This was something I could get used to. I was loving the music life. We got on the bus and celebrated a great night.<p>

* * *

><p>It took us about three more days to get back to L.A.. The bus took us to my place so I could drop my stuff off. Then, we went to Derek's place where they stored all their stuff. While they were doing that, I played with Terror, Derek's dog. After they got all their stuff put away, Ronnie and I walked down to his place. It was just down the street so we didn't have to go too far.<p>

"It feels good to be home, doesn't it?" I asked.

"Yep," he replied as we walked upstairs to his room.

He put his stuff on the floor and jumped on his bed. I followed behind him, hoping to land on the bed. Instead of a bed, I ended up with a Ronnie under me. I rolled off him, holding my chest.

"Okay, that hurt a little," I said wincing.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Just a little bit of pain. I should be asking you that," I said.

"Not really, hardly felt it actually. Well, there was the force but no pain," he said.

I nodded, and he kissed me softly. We took a nap since we got home about noon and had been up since about 9 or so. After that, we decided to go out for dinner. We got escorted to our table and sat down. As we were walking by, I saw something that caught my eye.

"Um, Ronnie, we've got a slight problem," I whispered to him.

"What?" he asked.

I told him to look to the next table over. There were two occupants, Nick and Lexus.

"So, what's the big deal?" he asked.

"I'm supposed to stay under radar," I replied.

He looked at me puzzled.

"Ronnie, we need to go," I said getting up.

He followed by me. Suddenly, I felt a cold hand grasp around my wrist.


	12. Friends And Alibis

I looked down my arm to my wrist. I tried to get my arm free, but Lexus had an iorn grip.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you. Please, join us," Lexus said, realeasing her grip.

She left indents where her nails were. Ronnie and I pulled up a couple chairs. We all sat silently as the people around us sounded like a low roar. I tried to make it so I looked busy doing something. Just so it seemed I wasn't paying attention.

"So, Nick's told me a lot about you," Lexus said, trying to start a conversation.

"Like?" I asked looking up.

"Oh, the usual, personality, what you do, what you've been doing, appearance."

I raised an eyebrow, questioning what she specifically meant.

"You know, really quiet till you gain trust, very talented in the music department. His description of you was fairly well worded, almost exact. Things like that."

I nodded as a response. Ronnie wrapped his arm around my back.

"Oh, and you're also Ronnie's girl. He told me that."

I glared over at Nick.

"Why are you looking at me?" Nick asked.

"You just couldn't wait for me to tell her all this in person. Listen, I know about your little scheme about taking over. Well thought out if you asked me. Create something that could out fight practically anything. I came to the realization that Nick came and bit me after Ryan did on purpose. Just remember, I know pretty much everything about you guys, too. So, don't go thinking you can overtake my mind and manipulate me. Because you both know I can easily take over in the matter of seconds. So, if you don't mind I think we were just about to leave," I said getting up.

"Bri, come on, let's try to be civil for once," Ronnie said.

"No! I'm not putting up with this. Just, leave me alone, okay?"

I tried to walk calmly out of the restaurant. After I left, I decided I just really needed to take a breather. I've been around the same people for almost four months. A nice walk was needed so I could finally clear my head a little. I walked quite a distance till I found myself in the backyard of my place. I let out a sigh and walked away from the house. I sat against the trunk of a tree, far enough away so no one could see. My knees were into my chest and my arms crossed across my knees. Then, some thoughts hit me. That was the first time I flipped out on Ronnie. Some tears left my eyes. What if he didn't want me back? What if he wouldn't accept my apology? I was honestly a little scared I was going to lose him. I couldn't afford that. He meant too much to me. I hung my head low, thinking about if I should go into the house or not. I looked back at the house. There were only three lit windows I could see. I looked out into the darkness of the small wooded area known as the backyard. In the distance, I could see a wolf-shaped figure with a pair of brown eyes. They looked so familiar. I doubted it was my assumption. Why would Ronnie want to see me? Especially since I just totally flipped out and made a slight scene. I could hear footsteps coming from my right side. I saw the wolf run away. I stayed hidden as well as I could. Why was it when I was emotionally distressed someone would always come and ruin it? So much for trying to be alone.

"Dude, you okay?" Kiearra asked.

"Why do you care?" I asked weakly.

"Because there's something wrong, and I want to know what's up."

"Well, there's nothing wrong for you to be caring about."

"Bri, look at me," Max said, trying to lift my chin up.

I refused and got away from his grasp.

"Seriously, dude, what's up?" Max asked.

I turned away, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"What did Ronnie do?" he asked.

"Nothing, okay!"

I noticed Max flinch a little.

"Just let her go. She needs to be alone," Kiearra said.

They both left on what I guessed was a hunting trip. Great, I flipped out on three people. I let out a sigh and cried some more. This wasn't normal for me, just flipping out on people left and right. I eventually cried myself to sleep in the backyard.

* * *

><p>It was an okay night for me. I think Bri just needed some time to herself. I hung out with Lexus and Nick for a couple hours. She really has changed since I was with her last. We said our goodbyes for the evening. As I was walking home, I thought of how rare it was for Bri to lash out like that. I've never seen that from her. I needed to know she was okay. Her scent wasn't too hard to decifer from everyone else. Quite easy actually. Her scent led me to her place. I stayed far away. Then I got the turning stomach feeling. It wasn't unfamiliar as I had gone through it many times years ago. I let out a snarl-like noise as I cringed on the ground. I took my shifting as a welcome and just let it happen. My coat was pure black and blended well with the night. It felt good to be back as a wolf again. I let out a sigh and walked forwards a little. It would probably be somewhat difficult for her to see me. I just wanted to know she was doing okay. She looked pretty down, and I couldn't be there to pick her up. Well, it wasn't that I couldn't, more like I think she needed to be by herself. It's how she handles situations like these. I saw Kiearra and Max walk towards my general direction. It looked like my time to go. I started to walk away as I overheard their conversation. I shook my head and kept it low. I suddenly felt a playful push to my side, knocking me over. I quickly rolled over on all fours, only to see Max laughing.<p>

"You really gotta let your guard down, dude," Max said still laughing.

I looked at him and then off towards Bri's direction.

"What's been up? Bri's not talking to us at all," he explained.

I lowered my head.

"Dude, I'm not a mind reader."

I glared at him.

"Can't shift, can ya?"

I shook my head.

"You can come with us if you want. We're just walking around, and when you get back on two feet, you can tell us what's going on."

I nodded and started to follow them through the backyard area. I kept back a little so I wouldn't intrude on a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear. A little bit down the trail, I started to stumble a little. I dropped on the ground and started to shake. The fur that covered my body soon disappeared, and left me on the ground, out of breath. I sat up to regain my breath and went on to stand. I then went to catch up with Kiearra and Max.

"So, why is she so upset?" Max asked.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. She said something about staying under radar," I replied.

"Where were you, dude?"

"In a restaurant."

"I'm guessing Lexus was there?"

"How did you know?"

"I specifically told Bri not to be around her. She's probably upset because she thinks she let me down."

"Dude, before you go any further. Lexus has changed so much since we last saw her. She seems a lot nicer. Not quite as dark."

"Are you sure about that? She might have been acting it."

"I'm sure. She wants nothing more than people to be happy."

Max looked over at me awkwardly.

"If you're sure about it," he said.

"I am."

We soon found ourselves back in the backyard of their house. I picked Bri up and took her inside. The couch was empty, so I placed her there. I walked back home and went to bed.

* * *

><p>I awoke the next morning, rubbing sore eyes. I looked around and realized someone carried me in last night. Last night. I think I was all done with the tears. I got up from the couch and snuck out of the house. I know for a fact everyone was asleep. It was only ten. I walked back to Ronnie's place and knocked on the door. There was no answer. So, he either knew it was me and wouldn't answer on purpose, or he was still asleep. I was hoping he was still asleep anyway. I thought of calling him to get up. I searched my pockets and remembered I left my phone on the bed. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I passed time by walking around the city. I came back to Ronnie's about one. This time, he answered the door.<p>

"Bri!" he exclaimed happily as I jumped into his arms.

I will admit, I teared up a little. Knowing he accepted me back like this made me happier than ever.

"It's good to see you happy, again," he said smiling.

We walked over to the couch and sat. Ronnie held me close to him. Just then, the thoughts of last night came back to mind.

"I-I need to go," I said, trying to get up.

He held me down, "No, you're not walking out on me again. Now, what's going on? You've been acting up ever since we got home."

"It's the whole thing with having to be with Lexus. Max told me what she's trying to do, and use everyone as her puppet to take over the city. Eventually the state."

"That's not what she told me."

"Of course she'd tell you something different! She doesn't want you to wonder!"

Ronnie let out a sigh, "I just think you need to go talk with her again. She really isn't that bad."

I glared up at him.

"Plus you were talking about Max. He didn't get along with her as well as I did."

"I guess I can go talk to her," I said.

"Good," he said smiling and messing with my hair.

* * *

><p>Next thing I knew, we were at her apartment's door. I gave a few gentle knocks. She soon came to the door. She smiled at Ronnie, and glared down at me.<p>

"Listen, I know I was in the wrong last night, jumping to conclusions," I said.

"I don't blame you. That honestly used to be my dream. Taking over the world with the largest clan. I soon came to realize it would never be," she said.

"What made you change your mind?" I asked.

"Please come inside, and I'll explain."

We walked into the apartment and sat on the couch. Her two dogs came up and warmly greeted us. I started to pet them as Lexus started to speak.

"I was going through quite the dark period of my life, but I had it all at that time: a guy that I regret using, all the power I could want for a clan, just everything. Then, I lost that guy because he figured out my plans. I tried to then obtain as many people I could use as possible out of rage, just to prove him wrong. Now look, he proved me wrong and he lives a great life that I probably couldn't provide him. Now I stand with four vamps to my name, and you're one of them."

"If you don't mind me asking, who are the others?" I asked.

"You, Nick, Sammie, and Johnny B," she replied.

I nodded, agreeing to this. Was I really getting into this? Going against what Max had warned me of? I decided to best keep on my toes. Or should I leave before the worst of the storm hits? Something I'd have to discuss with Max or Ronnie later.

"So, Nick didn't bite me on purpose?" I asked.

"I bit you because I thought you'd have a much better life if you were one of us. The fact that Ryan bit you before was just a coincidence. Think about it, Bri. You have all you could want and more now, right?" Nick asked.

"I guess, but..."

"But what? Really, the only cons of this is you have bloodlust and sometimes can't control your shifts."

"When you put it that way..."

"Exactly. Your future looks so much better now."

"I don't understand how. All I can do now, rather than when I was human, is basically outrun someone in a footrace and have hyped up sences."

Nick glared at me.

"You're too young to know now. You'll learn later on that this is the best life gets," he said.

I nodded and just decided not to argue.

* * *

><p>Ronnie and I had gone out for lunch that afternoon and headed back to his place.<p>

"So, do you feel better now?" he asked.

"I guess. It's not that much different than my human life. Still shy when it comes to new people, can't hold a conversation to save my life," I replied.

"Don't worry, new wolves go through the exact same thing. It gets better with age. I'm sorry to say, but that's really the only advice that can be given."

"It's okay," I said as we went upstairs.

"But you do feel comfortable being with her, right?" he asked.

"I guess. I want to talk to Max, though, since you guys know her about the same amount."

"Is what I'm telling you making you unsure?"

"A little, I just want to think for myself. So, I may just end up pushing all thoughts aside and going down my own road."

"Whatever you do, just make sure you're going to be happy."

"I will, and if not, I can have one of those clan changes Max was talking about a few weeks back. I mean, Lexus is really nice and understanding, and I want things to work out. She's almost like a mother to me now, I guess. Maybe that's because of the venom transfer from Nick. But the clan change is only if one of us tries to kill each other for whatever reason."

"Sounds good," Ronnie said with a smile.

I nodded and smiled as Ronnie leaned over to kiss me gently.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry, going to have to save the rest for the next chapter. How will the others react to Bri's decision? Meh, guess you'll have to wait and see. (And so will I. o.o) Yes, I did change my pen name to let you all know and not worry. :)<p> 


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